Prodigal Sons
by Questfan
Summary: Pitching brother against brother is a cruel game, but turning father against son is even better. Long buried hatred resurfaces in an unexpected way with devastating consequences for the whole family.
1. Chapter 1

**Prodigal Sons**

"Damn you, Little Joe! How could you do this to Pa?" Adam slammed the palm of his hand against the railing of the corral and watched as the horses within it spooked and ran to the far side. As the animals slowed and began to settle, the one nearest him just served to rile him further. Cochise had sliced his fetlock on a piece of stray fencing wire a few days earlier and Joe had been forced to choose another horse to ride while he healed. Adam wondered if that had added to Joe's sour mood over the last few days, but he shook his head as he turned towards the house. Joe had been in a sour mood for far more than a few days. He'd been edgy and angry and quick to let fly with both words and fists. Adam had been the butt of most of his foul humour, but it was their father who had taken the hardest blow of all. As he trudged back towards the front door, Adam glanced upwards. The window stood dark and closed and he wondered if there would ever be light in that room again. His brother had pushed the envelope most of his life, but Adam found today's developments to be beyond anything he could have anticipated. It was just cruel and he would never have considered Joe could be cruel. There were a whole lot of other words he could use to describe his brother, but that was not one of them.

Until today.

Adam walked back inside and saw Hoss staring into the flames in the fireplace while scratching absently at the back of his neck. His father was nowhere to be seen and Adam guessed he had retired to his room. It was easier to be there than face his other two sons and their possible recriminations. If only his father knew that Adam wasn't angry with him. He was furious at Joe.

Hoss ignored his entrance and Adam knew that his brother could not have missed the sound of his boots on the wooden floor. Adam frowned, but kept from speaking as he knew that Hoss was slowly coming apart at the seams.

"Damn you, Joe!" He muttered again under his breath as he crossed the floor to his father's desk. The usually meticulous wooden desktop was marred by one thing. Adam stretched out a hand to pick up the offending piece of paper and slowly opened it out again. He smoothed it out on the desk and leaned over with both hands on either side of it, as if loath to touch it again. The scratchy scrawl was definitely his left-handed brother's untidy handwriting and there was no disputing Joe had written it. What he couldn't bring himself to understand was why.

Hoss moved over behind him and Adam felt his brother's hand clamp down on his back.

"Don't make no sense, does it?"

Adam straightened up and looked into his brother's eyes. He read the pain and disappointment there as clear as day. Hoss didn't have an ounce of guile in him and he often struggled to understand others who behaved in a way he never would. He could forgive Joe most anything as his youngest brother had a way of smiling just so and making anger melt away. At least he did with Hoss. As Adam stared at his brother's face, eyes brimming with unshed tears, he wondered if Joe had come to the end of his lucky run.

"No, it doesn't." Adam felt his fist clenching in anger as he considered the ugly words he had read several times over before they had truly sunk in. "But Joe made his feelings pretty clear."

"You think he's serious? He ain't ever comin' back?"

"Joe can be pretty stubborn when he sets his mind to it."

"Yeah, but he ain't never done somethin' as …" Hoss stared at his brother, hoping Adam could find the words that he just could not get to come out. For once in his life, Adam seemed to be lost for words as well.

Hours later, Adam sat staring into the flames with a glass of brandy twirling absently in his fingers. Hoss had given up and gone to bed, but he could not get his brain to switch off. His analytical mind kept replaying and rehashing every nuance of every angry clash he had witnessed or participated in over the last four weeks. He knew his father had been tearing his hair out trying to work out what was going on with his youngest son and why it seemed he had suddenly become incapable of following even the most basic order.

Order.

Adam took a gulp of the brandy and felt it burn its way down his throat. Joe had stated in his letter that he was done taking orders. Of course he hadn't phrased it quite so simply and Adam had recoiled as he had watched his father's face go red with anger. Joe hadn't even reached his twenty-first birthday and he still chafed at taking direction from his older brothers at times, but he was generally compliant when it came to his father. At least so far as ranch chores went. Some of his other activities skimmed a little close to the edge, but Adam knew that his father sometimes turned a blind eye as he tried to allow his youngest the room to grow up and make his own choices. That also meant living with the consequences of his choices, which was the part Joe seemed to balk at.

Adam sighed as he once again read through the contents of the letter. It made no sense and yet there was no arguing that Joe had written it. He finally stood up and dropped the letter back on his father's desk. As he climbed the stairs to his room, he wondered for the hundredth time what had possessed his youngest brother to break his father's heart.

* * *

Ben paused outside his son's bedroom door and almost raised a hand to knock, as was his habit. He knew that Joe was not on the other side of it, but for the briefest of moments each morning, as he pulled himself out of sleep, he could believe that his son was still in his rightful place. He reached for the handle and pushed the door open. Sunlight was just beginning to break through the curtains as he made his way across the room. The bed had not been slept in for two weeks and he found himself coming to rest on it anyway. As he reached for his son's pillow and hugged it to his chest, Ben cursed himself as a sentimental old fool. The faint smell of Joe's cologne lingered on the linen and he closed his eyes as he inhaled. For the first week after Joe left, he had held onto the hope that his impetuous son would come to his senses and return home. The terse message relayed through one of the ranch hands had come like a slap in the face. Adam had exploded when he'd seen the man's bruised face and had gotten to the bottom of the matter. Joe had been butting heads with everybody for weeks, but attacking an employee was beyond even him. Adam had managed to calm him down enough to talk him out of pressing charges with Roy Coffee while Hoss had ridden off to find his youngest brother. There was no sign of him in the northern pasture where he'd supposedly been working alone all day and Hoss had ridden into town. Nobody there had seen his wayward brother and Hoss had arrived home hours later with his head hanging low. It seemed that Joe's threat to leave had finally been followed through on.

That hope that he might calm down and come back had been dashed when the letter had arrived and his son had made his intentions clear. Ben pushed the pillow away and replaced it on the end of the bed. He stretched as he stood up and felt the kinks in his neck. Old age seemed to be soaking into his bones and he frowned as he walked across the room and headed for the stairs. He had once joked that Joseph would drive him to an early grave, but now his own words echoed back at him and they weren't so funny anymore.

* * *

The water from the pump sloshed into the metal bowl as the newest hand poured himself some water to shave with. He knew he'd landed on his feet when he'd been hired on to the Ponderosa. It had been too many months trailing from one town to another looking for work when his horse had dragged itself into Virginia City. The old nag was holding her own, but he knew he needed to find a younger one if he was going to keep up as a ranch hand. Of course, the Ponderosa stock were well known in the area and he hoped to work up the nerve to ask the boss about buying one and paying it off from his wages. It made sense, in a kind of a way. His father's horse had taken him a long way and she was a faithful old girl, but her age was catching up to her. Some of the other hands had made jokes about her and he'd always defended her. It surprised him when the boss's son had caught them at it one day and he'd stuck up for her. Said he'd rather have a horse that was a little slower, but could be relied on, than one that rode like the wind, but would bolt at the first sign of trouble. Of course, he was mounted on a magnificent pinto at the time, so Glen wondered if he really meant what he said.

As he pulled out his shaving gear and began to lather up, Glen found another new hand watching him intently. Something about the man unnerved him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. His ma would have said he should listen to those warnings in his gut, but his pa would have slapped him on the head and told him to stop being daft. He sucked in a breath as he felt tears prick at his eyes and he shook himself before starting to shave. He missed them both so much and he would give his right arm to have them back. Family was everything and he couldn't for the life of him figure how the youngest Cartwright brother had simply thrown his aside. He'd seen Nate's face when he returned with a tale of how Joe Cartwright had turned on him and he'd been as shocked as any of them. Of course, he'd seen more than his fair share of Joe's temper over the previous weeks, but still, something chewed at him. Nate would catch him looking his way and Glen felt his stomach twist. Something about him was just not right and he wondered why nobody else seemed to notice. He went back to his shaving and was surprised when he finished up to find that his audience had silently slipped from the room.

* * *

The sun was well above the horizon when Stacey pulled herself from the chair she'd slept in. It was the first night that she hadn't been woken by her patient's wild rambling and for a brief moment her breath caught in her throat. Had he slipped away in the night and she'd been too tired to notice? As she leaned over towards the bed, she watched with relief as his chest was still rising and falling. It wasn't even and his breath hitched every so often, but he was still breathing. Trying to get up quietly was not so easy as she had tugged a blanket around herself and it snagged against the bottom of the rocker as she leaned forward. She awkwardly tumbled forward from the chair and managed to catch herself against the dresser. As she straightened up and steadied herself again, she was surprised to see she was being watched.

"Well, hello there." She self-consciously pushed at the messy bun of hair that trailed down one side of her face and realised she must look a terrible mess. It had been days since she had bothered to actually check herself in a mirror and her dress was crumpled from having slept in it.

The eyes that tracked her move towards the bed were hazy with pain and she smiled to reassure him. As she settled on the side of the bed, she reached out a hand and brushed it against his forehead. The skin was cooler than it had been, but the fever was not done yet and she knew she'd have to keep an eye on it.

"I'm Stacey. You are in my home." As she moved to wring out a cloth with soothing water, she smiled again. "You are safe here."

The stranger watched her movements and turned slightly into the cooling caress of the cloth, but did not respond otherwise. She watched as his eyes slid closed again and she continued to wipe his face and neck. Even though she had done it several times each day for the past three days, she was still hesitant to peel back the bandage that wrapped around her patient's right shoulder. She had never liked the sight of blood and it still made her shudder to think about her first glimpse of the stranger, covered in dried blood with his face swollen and misshapen. The bruising across his torso and legs had turned a spectacular range of colours as it darkened, but it seemed to have stopped spreading. Whoever had done that much damage had been vicious. She paused before tugging at the bandage, almost afraid that it would provoke a new round of muttered curses. As she lifted the bandage she was relieved to see the skin losing some of its angry red puckering and the crusted blood that pulled away did not provoke much more than a trickle of fresh blood. If she had been stronger, or had some help to lift the man's dead weight off the bed, she would have wrapped a fresh bandage around the wound. Instead she smoothed it back into place and sat back to look at him again.

The man's features looked almost peaceful in sleep, but she knew it was just an illusion. As the fever had raged, so had his torment. Each time she had struggled to hold him down as he seemed intent on climbing out of the bed and chasing after whatever it was that threatened him in his nightmares. Her whole body would tremble from exhaustion when he would finally succumb to the pull of sleep and her hands shook as she looked down at them. Something about the strange man who had stumbled onto her front porch scared her. She didn't know if it was the thought of what had happened to him or the fear that something still stalked him.

* * *

Nate sat astride his horse and watched the movement of cattle across the valley below him. He leaned back in the saddle and enjoyed the warmth of the sun on his back, but that was not the cause of the smile on his face. No, that came from the haggard look of the man in front of the group of hands. His black-clad shoulders were held stiff and staunch as if he could carry whatever weight was resting on them. But Nate knew better. He'd seen the man cross the yard the night before and race off on his horse as if something was chasing him. It wasn't the first time he'd left the ranch and ridden his horse to who knew where. Nate had listened intently for any snippet of information that came his way that his plan was working. Of course, the best part was that nobody knew that Mac was his brother and not just another cowpoke who rode into town with him. That part was definitely the best part. Pitching brother against brother and son against father was proving to be more fun than he'd expected. Of course, getting the youngest Cartwright brat to write that letter before he died was the clincher. Nate had to rein in a laugh as he recalled the fury written across his face. He'd held the pen and dipped it in the ink while Mac held a loaded shotgun to his head. He'd issued multiple threats while he wrote what he was told, but Nate had just laughed at him. There wasn't much a dead man could do to him really.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you lovely people for your kind reviews and messages. I'm sorry for the slow chapter, but life turned up in the middle of writing time!

 **Chapter Two**

Being a bartender in any town required certain skills and discretion was often at the top of the list. In a town that saw more than its share of drifters and ne-er-do-wells, being able to size up a room full of people quickly was even more important. As Sam leaned forward onto the bar top and surveyed his usual mix of customers, he was actually keeping a close eye on the small group in the far, back corner. He knew a couple of them were Ponderosa hands, but the other two were unknown to him. It wasn't that he knew everybody in Virginia City, but he had developed a certain sense over the years that had served him well. He could often anticipate trouble before it actually hit and he was able to divert a problem before it blew up into something more. A well placed glass of beer, or a timely comment that drew attention elsewhere could work wonders that often went unnoticed. It was that well tuned sense of trouble brewing that was chewing at his ear as he covertly observed the quartet, but he couldn't give himself a reason why. After all, it wasn't unusual for the men to make their way into town at the end of the working week. It also wasn't unusual for strangers to show up. Before he could give it any further thought, somebody demanded a whiskey and his attention was directed elsewhere. It would be some time before he would notice that the two strangers had left, but the one they had called Nate was still sitting there, deep in conversation with another young cowboy whose name he couldn't recall.

* * *

Hoss slowly ran a hand down the length of Cochise's leg and nodded as he straightened up. "Looks like you're all done there. Good as new."

As the horse nickered in response, Hoss scratched up behind his ears with one hand as he stroked the horse's muzzle with his other hand. "Course you need somebody to take you out for a good long ride and stretch out that leg." As he continued to stroke the horse's muzzle, he felt his thoughts wandering elsewhere. "Just to make sure."

"So he's gonna be okay then?"

The question came out of the twilight shadows and Hoss looked around for a moment before setting his sights on the young man who hesitantly moved towards him from the barn door.

'Well his leg is." Hoss scratched at the back of his neck as he considered the new hand he'd befriended in recent weeks. They shared a love of animals, were both more comfortable away from crowds and both men had found themselves unconsciously gravitating to the other.

"He's hurt someplace else?" Glen moved into the light of the lantern, frowning at the idea he had missed something important.

"No place you can see." Hoss went back to scratching behind Cochise's ear as he turned his face away.

"You miss him don't you?"

Hoss's hand hesitated for a moment before he continued scratching at the horse who kept nudging him. When he didn't answer, Glen coughed uncomfortably and looked at his feet.

"I'm sorry, it's none'a my business. My papa always said I opened my mouth too easy."

"Why don't you ever go into the Silver Dollar with the other hands?" Hoss stared at the young man before him and for a brief moment he felt like he was grilling his younger brother over a misdemeanor.

The change in questioning caught Glen off guard and he chewed at his bottom lip.

"Don't really fit in."

Hoss moved across the dimly lit barn to put the bottle of linament back. "You're doin' just fine 'sfar as I can tell. Hank ain't got no complaints about your work."

Once again, Glen scuffed at the floor with the toe of his boot and tried to cover his discomfort. For some reason he couldn't define, he felt most at ease with the big man in front of him, but he would have traded his right arm to be able to escape his gaze at that moment.

"The work's no problem. Fact is, I'm enjoyin' it. Reminds me of …"

When the comment ran out of words, Hoss tried again. "Reminds you of what?"

"Workin' with my pa. He was good with horses, you know, like Joe is. He could break the most cussed animal and gentle it like a lamb, my mama would say."

When Hoss didn't answer, but settled himself on a bale of hay instead, Glen slowly moved across a little closer. The shadows cast by the flickering lantern played across Hoss's face and he wondered if he'd crossed the line.

"Joe had a way with horses from the day he first sat on one. Ain't never seen nothin' like it. He's not real fussed on many other critters, but horses … that's Joe's thing."

"I knew that when he stuck up for old Betsy. Said she was a faithful animal and worth her weight in gold."

"Sounds like somethin' he'd say about a horse he liked."

"Then what about a horse he loved?"

Hoss looked up to see Glen shaking his head as if wishing he'd kept his thought to himself. He'd asked the same question himself. Every day.

"Joe and Cochise ain't never been apart this long before. It's gotta be killin' him."

"Hoss, how did … I mean … what happened to Cochise's leg?"

"He got cut up on some old fencing wire. Don't know when he did it and Joe didn't notice it tangled around him, but he's lucky it didn't go deeper."

Glen found himself once again chewing at his lip as he considered how far he could trust the man in front of him. Finally he decided that if nothing else, he needed to make sure no other horse would suffer as he'd seen Cochise do with a swollen and sore leg.

"What if it wasn't an accident?"

"What?" Hoss was on his feet in a second and Glen involuntarily moved back a step as the big man seemed to lurch towards him.

"Sorry! It just seems real strange to me that … well that for someone as experienced as Joe … and with a horse he loves, not to have noticed something like that."

Hoss scratched at the back of his neck as he considered the comment. "Joe said the same thing. Couldn't see how he'd missed it and was mighty angry at himself." He leaned forward onto the railing as he thought about his brother's concerns for his injured horse. It seemed to have been the final straw that lit his brother's short fuse that day as he wondered if something more sinister was playing out. "I wish he was here to see that Cochise ain't suffered no permanent harm."

In an effort to force himself out of the sour mood that seemed to be settling over him, Hoss turned down the lantern and nodded towards the house. "I think I'm done in for one day. If you ain't doin' anything tomorrow afternoon, I thought we could ride up and take a look at that herd we were talkin' about. See if we can't pick one out for you to have a go at breaking."

Glen barely managed to hold his surprise inside and nodded enthusiastically as he followed Hoss towards the door. As he made his way to the almost empty bunkhouse, he reflected once again on the good fortune that had made him turn towards Virginia City and not towards Carson City. Having seen the state and age of his horse, the boss had agreed to letting him try catching a wild one and breaking it in his own time. Joe had promised to show him the ropes, but when that promise was clearly never going to be made good on, Hoss had stepped in.

"Are you sure you'd rather not do something else on your afternoon off?"

"Nope, we gotta do somethin' before that old lady of yours needs a rockin' chair!"

Glen laughed as he stepped up onto the porch. He missed the look that crossed Hoss's face as he headed through the door. Sunday afternoons just weren't much fun anymore without his brother around. The mood around his family was strained and he wondered if things would ever get back to normal.

Would the prodigal son ever come home again?

* * *

Stacey was busy cooking eggs and didn't hear the footsteps behind her until he was almost beside her. As the stranger startled her, she dropped an egg onto the floor and it smashed against her foot.

"I'm sorry! Didn't mean to scare you."

The eyes that followed her as she leaned down to clean up the mess looked almost distressed.

"It's alright. I was just daydreaming and didn't hear you come out. I'll have this cleaned up in no time." As she wiped the last of the mess away, she motioned towards the table. "Why don't you take a seat and breakfast will be ready soon."

As he settled on the edge of a seat and propped his chin on one hand, Stacey found herself observing him from where she stood. The bruising and swelling was easing, but his face still wore a deep edge of fear that he was trying to mask.

"Did you sleep well?" It was a morning question that had become routine. Even though she had heard him cry out almost every night, the answer each morning was always the same. Polite. Non-committal. Guarded.

"Fine thanks. What about you?"

As Stacey moved over to drop two plates of eggs and biscuits onto the table, she slid into the empty seat and smiled. "Very well."

She wondered why the two of them were still doing this wary dance around each other as it was clear both were lying to the other. When she had asked who Adam was and why he called out the name so frequently, the stranger had shut down. His eyes screwed shut and she couldn't tell if he was trying to remember or trying to forget.

"I think I might have remembered something."

Stacey almost held her breath as she waited.

"I think … I think my name is Joe."

"Joe? I like it!" Stacey smiled as she watched the stranger before her. If something had come back to him, then it was a good sign that more would. So far, his recollection had only been snippets of things that made no sense to either of them.

Her comment elicited the first genuine smile she had seen on his face and despite the bruising, she decided it suited him.

"I dunno where it came from. I just woke up and it was like a piece of something fell into place." The look of fear had returned as he stared at her across the table, as if evaluating how far to go next. "There's more. I think … I think someone tried to kill me."

As if on instinct, Stacey reached for his hand and squeezed it. "I think you might be right. But before we can do anything about it, you need to rest and see what more comes back. You can't go off half-cocked."

"I remember arguing with someone, but then it goes hazy again. It's so frustrating!" Joe pulled back from her hand before shoving away from the table. "What if whoever it was comes looking for me? What if I've put you in danger by coming here?"

"Nonsense!"

Joe began to pace across the tiny kitchen as his agitation increased.

"I need to leave here before anything happens to you!" Before Stacey could respond, Joe suddenly clutched at his head and sagged back onto the chair. She rushed to the pump outside to bring in cold water and snagged a cloth on the way past.

"Easy now, you just need to breathe through it." As had happened too many times already, she reached a cold cloth to wipe at Joe's face as beads of sweat broke out across his forehead. Every time he strained to force a memory, it seemed his own body worked against him and shut him down. It was sabotage of the cruelest kind.

"Adam!" The word came out through gritted teeth and Stacey frowned at him.

"Hush now, there's time for that later."

"Adam was there. I know it! I just need to …"

"You just need to hush up and breathe. Your memories will come back, but for now, you need to rest."

The ashen colour of the skin beneath her hand told her all she needed to know. If he tried to force things any further, she'd be cleaning up more than broken eggs.

"You have barely been out of that bed for five minutes. The harder you push yourself, the longer this will take."

"I know. You're right. I'm just so close I can taste it!"

As Stacey leaned in to grip his wrist and tug him to his feet, Joe stared at her. "Who is Adam? And why is that the only name I remember?"

"You remembered your name too. More will come. Trust me." The smile she forced onto her face belied the fear coiled in her stomach. Maybe the Adam he kept shouting at every night really was the man who had tried to kill him.

* * *

"Well I'll be doggone!"

Glen shifted in the saddle as he watched the expression on Hoss's face. He wasn't sure what had his attention as he stared at the herd of horses grazing in the valley below. They were still far enough away not to have spooked them yet and the scent of their own horses would mask any human scent, but he still could not see what the problem was.

"That bay towards the back. With white patches on her rump." As Hoss lifted a hand to point, Glen suddenly saw what he was talking about when the horse sidled around a little more while grazing.

"That's one of yours ain't it?"

Hoss nodded as he slowly pulled at the rope across his saddle horn.

"Sure is. And I can't figure what she's doing out here."

Before he could ask anything stupid, Glen watched as Hoss kicked his horse into motion and took off downhill after the mare. The herd startled and she began to run alongside them as Hoss circled to the right. It was relatively easy to cut her from the herd as she had been broken over a year earlier. The lasso slipped around her neck and she pulled up short, but barely fought him as a wild one would have. By the time Glen pulled up alongside him, there was no mistaking the Ponderosa brand on her flank.

"This is the horse Joe was using isn't it?"

"Yeah! So if Joe ain't got Cochise and he ain't riding this little lady, what's he doing?"

The ride back to the ranch was very quiet as Hoss kept his thoughts to himself. If Joe had quietly returned the horse he'd left on, did that mean he really had turned his back on them all?

Glen trailed alongside his friend and wondered how they were going to explain the afternoon's events as they returned with Joe's horse. He'd seen more than enough of the fallout of his departure on the family he had found himself working for. Once again, he felt his anger rising at the young man who had thrown aside the very thing he would have given anything to have back.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you as always for reader reviews and comments. I love hearing what you think.

 **Chapter Three**

"I can't explain it any better than that, Roy!" Adam paced across the floor of the office, trying in vain to find the right words to explain a vague gut feeling. He was beginning to feel foolish and yet he could not let it alone. As his anger had cooled and his usual rational thought processes had come to the fore, he could not shake the sense that something did not add up. Oh sure, Joe could be a hothead, but it was more than that. In the days after Joe had left, things had settled far too quickly for his liking. As he finally stopped and reconsidered all that had happened, it seemed too co-incidental just how much of it centred on Joe.

"Roy, I know first-hand that Joe can be stubborn and he often makes an issue bigger than it needs to be because he doesn't think it through, but there were just so many things that … well … things that made him look bad."

Roy leaned back into his seat and watched as Adam finally stopped moving. "What do ya mean exactly?"

Adam clenched his fists in sheer frustration. "Things like Pa telling Joe to get the northern pasture fencing done which Joe said he'd done. But when we got up there two days later, the fencing was down again and lots of the stock had strayed. Pa was furious because he thought Joe had shirked on the job. When Pa confronted him on it, Joe just got mad and stormed off. He said Pa should have believed him."

Roy watched as Adam began his pacing again and he sighed. He'd had more than one conversation with Ben in the weeks before Joe left and it seemed like history was repeating itself with Adam.

"Did _you_ believe him?"

Adam ran a hand through his hair as he shook his head. "I'm afraid not. It just seemed that all of a sudden every time Joe opened his mouth, he was contradicting the evidence before our eyes."

"I ain't never known Little Joe to be a liar." The comment was quiet and not judgemental, but Adam felt his stomach lurch as if he'd been kicked.

"Two months ago, I'd have agreed with you. A stubborn, mule-headed kid, who didn't always see the line before he crossed it, but straight up when it mattered."

"Your pa said the same thing." Roy didn't add the rest of Ben's comments that he thought he was losing his son and he had no idea what had gone wrong between them.

Adam sank into the chair and picked up the mug of coffee that Roy had poured some time ago. It was almost cold and bitter as he swilled it in his mouth, but he was past caring.

"I don't suppose you've picked anything up with your inquiries?"

"'fraid not. Joe ain't on any wanted posters if that's what ya mean." The attempt to lighten the mood fell flat as Adam stared back at him. "I'm sorry, Adam, but there's been no sign of him anywhere I've checked. In one way, that's a good thing. He's not in any trouble 'sfar as I know."

Adam found himself right back at his original point. How did he explain a gut feeling that all was not right? And even worse, what did he do about it?

* * *

Nate leaned up against the railing of the corral and joined in the chorus of cheers. He really had no interest in the horse breaking on the other side of the fence, but he needed to keep things focused elsewhere and away from him. He couldn't afford any hint of suspicion to fall his way or the plan would begin to unravel. He allowed himself a small smile to see that the one who would usually be up there on the back of that wild horse was long gone and never coming back. His body would be rotting somewhere out in the tall trees and would quite possibly have already been picked over by coyotes. The cheers quickly turned to silence as the rider came to grief and sprawled across the ground in a cloud of dirt. The black mare danced sideways as the weight of the rider disappeared and several hands grasped for the reins to pull her back in.

Hoss jumped down from the fence and hauled the rider to his feet with a hearty slap on the shoulder that almost sent him sprawling again.

"You're gettin' the hanga this!"

"Really?" Glen looked up in surprise as he brushed dirt from the seat of his pants. "Cos I think that horse is gonna be the death of me!"

Hoss laughed and dragged him across to where a canteen was slung on a post. "Nah! You'll make your pa proud of you when she's all gentled and you're the one who done it. Drink up and wash that dust outta ya mouth. I think we've had enough for one day."

Glen smiled at the compliment, but noticed the look that crossed Hoss's face as he turned towards his horse. He knew that no matter how good a front his friend put on things, there was no missing the fact he missed his kid brother fiercely. At times, the new hand felt like he was intruding, but he could not dismiss how much he enjoyed being in the company of someone he connected to so well.

Nate ambled back across the track to where his horse was tied and watched as Hoss slung an arm around the shoulder of the young hand who seemed to have weaseled his way into the Cartwright family. He smiled as he considered his next move in breaking down the clan that had seemed unbreakable. He climbed up into the saddle and wheeled his horse around while surreptitiously checking to see where Mac was. His brother was playing his part better than he'd hoped and so far nobody had connected the two of them as family. He figured that the less anybody knew about them, the better. Especially if anybody got nosey and started looking into sheriff's records.

* * *

The fire had long since dwindled down, but Ben had not noticed the change in the temperature. His mind was a long way from his body and the warmth of the room was no longer his concern. He was completely oblivious as Adam watched him from the landing and only registered his presence when he settled on the table in front of him.

As Adam watched his father, he noted how he seemed to have aged. His shoulders were no longer erect as they usually were, although he covered his grief well until he thought nobody was looking. His father's hands gripped an empty glass as if his life depended on it and when he looked up, Adam read the pain that haunted his waking hours and no doubt tormented his nights.

"Pa, I was talking to Roy yesterday."

Ben frowned at the mention of the sheriff and stiffened as if his son was about to deliver bad news.

"I asked him to send out some wires and see if he could find out where Joe went."

Ben stared at him; hope beginning to flicker that somebody might be able to answer at least one of his myriad of unanswered questions. As Adam shook his head, he dropped his gaze back to the fire. It held no further answers either, but somewhere in its depths he hoped to find something that would keep him going for another day.

"Pa … I know what Joe said in his letter, but …" Adam watched as his father flinched at the mention of it. "But, I've decided I'm going to go after him. I don't care if he says he doesn't belong here anymore."

Ben looked back towards his eldest son and saw his own resolute nature reflected back at him. Adam had been the one who'd borne the brunt of whatever was eating at his youngest son and yet he was the one prepared to go after him. Holding a grudge had never been part of Adam's makeup and Ben managed a weak smile at him.

"Bring him home, Son. I don't care what he said. I'll listen to anything he has to say and we'll work this out."

* * *

Stacey tapped at the mug of coffee and smiled. "It's going cold. Or have you gone off my coffee now?"

"Sorry." Joe looked contrite as he picked up the mug and drank down the lukewarm liquid. He looked up to see her smiling at him still and he forced on a smile in return. "Best in Nevada!"

"Liar," she laughed as she turned back to preparing supper. Although the tone was light and it was clearly a joke, Joe flinched at the accusation. For some reason he could not define, the comment brought up a strange feeling and the smile slid off his face.

"So … where were you this time?" Stacey kept slicing vegetables as she looked across the room, noting the sudden change in his demeanor. It was becoming a common question as more pieces of the puzzle were slipping into place and Joe drifted off to chase rabbits down holes.

"Adam."

Stacey managed to bite her tongue as it was the answer she expected.

"I had another dream last night and I'm still trying to figure it out."

The frown that creased his face caused her to put down her knife and slide into the chair next to him. "Tell me about this one." Her tone was gentle and her hand slipped into his before she had realised it. As she squeezed his hand in encouragement, she could feel his hand trembling beneath her fingers.

"I think Adam is dead … and it's my fault." As Joe looked up into the face of concern, he could barely hold his emotions in check. He was still not clear on just who Adam was, but he had felt a deep sense of sadness when he awoke in the middle of the night, staring into images that swirled through his mind and taunted him.

"Why do you think that?"

"Someone shot him." The words were a whisper and Stacey squeezed at his hand again. His breathing had quickened and the colour had drained from his face. "I don't think it was me ... but it was because of me."

Stacey watched as he slowly recovered his composure, but said nothing.

"I was screaming at him, but he couldn't hear me."

"Well that would explain why you keep calling out his name in your sleep, I guess."

"I s'pose it does." Joe scratched at his chin as he tried desperately to control the emotions welling up from the pit of his stomach. "But who is he? Why would I care?" Fear competed with anger and his mind could not make sense of what he was feeling.

As the memory and wild images swirled through his mind, Joe felt the tension creeping up his neck once again and the beginnings of another headache forming.

"I didn't want to write it!"

Stacey stared at him as Joe rubbed circles at his temples with his thumbs. The change in the conversation caught her off-guard and she wasn't following his train of thought.

"Write what, Joe?"

"I didn't want to. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have argued." Joe dropped his head onto his forearms and groaned as if in pain.

As Joe's tangled memories had surfaced over recent days, Stacey had listened and made suggestions as to how they might be linked together, but this new one made no sense. She slowly reached out a hand and touched his shoulder, noting how much he was shaking. She hesitated to push him, but she could feel his urgent need to find the truth.

"Joe, what didn't you want to write?"

"It's my fault. They shot Adam and it's my fault." Joe raised tear-filled eyes as he gulped out the words. "They shot my brother!"

"What?" Stacey felt the world moving underneath her seat as she struggled to find a response. "Adam is your brother?"

Joe swallowed back a sob as he nodded. "How could I forget my own brother?"

Stacey reached out a hand to caress the side of his face. The last vestiges of bruises were fading under her fingertips. "When you turned up here, you looked like you had been run down by a runaway wagon. You were bleeding badly, Joe. Your mind was scrambled from the pain and blood loss. I'm no doctor, but your wounds were days old. That hole in your shoulder was caused by a bullet, I'm sure of it. Somebody dug it out of you and judging by the mess of it, I'd guess it was you. I've heard tell of folks losing track of time or losing memories for less than that. It's slowly coming back though as your body heals up."

"I don't think I want it to come back." Joe squeezed his eyes closed. "They shot him, because I argued over writing that letter." Stacey could feel the tremors of pent up tension as Joe fought to calm himself. Images flooded his mind and he finally pushed back the chair and stumbled across to the door. He barely made it to the dirt outside before his stomach rebelled. Pain flared in his head as his body convulsed with each heave of his stomach. "I don't want to remember!"

* * *

Glen settled against the ground and gingerly leaned back onto the tree trunk behind him. His whole body hurt from being thrown too many times off the black mare he'd chosen out of the wild herd. He wondered how anybody could bust broncs for a living because every joint and muscle in his body ached. He'd tried sleeping on his bunk, but the bruises rubbed against the mattress and he found sleep eluded him. Not wanting to keep others awake with his fidgeting, he'd finally decided he needed some night air. The cold air could help soothe the aches or make it worse, but he was willing to try anything that might bring relief.

He had almost dozed off against the tree when he heard voices through the trees. He was just about to make his presence known, in case somebody was looking for him, when something made him clam up. The sound carried closer and he could make out Nate's distinctive drawl.

"So Adam's gone lookin' for that brat of a kid. He ain't gonna like what he finds." The laugh that followed sent chills up Glen's spine and he held his breath in the dark.

The second voice chipped in and Glen recognised it as Mac. "Assumin' he finds anythin' at all! Don't 'spect those coyotes woulda left much on that skinny little carcass o' his."

Glen found his breath catching under his ribs as he fought down the bile rising up his throat.

"He sure did squeal about writin' that letter didn't 'e?" The laughter welled up from behind him as the voices shifted direction. "Course with my shotgun to his head, he didn't have a whole lotta choice 'bout it."

"Little brother, you done good! That big brother of his can ride in circles 'til Hell freezes over and meanwhile poor old Ben gets to sit here mopin' and wonderin' why the golden child hates him. It'll eat him up just never knowin' the answers."

"I know why I hate him!" The vitriol behind the words was clear, even in the dark. Glen chewed on his lip to keep himself quiet and he waited as the voices faded away. He couldn't make out the response to the comment, but his mind was already reeling.

Joe was dead!


	4. Chapter 4

I know I've caused a little confusion so far, but then just remember that Joe is still a little confused too. Thank you for sticking with me and for your kind comments.

 **Chapter Four**

Stacey pulled the wagon to the side of the mercantile and stepped down into the dusty street. The little town of Silver Falls was a complete misnomer because there were no silver mines for miles around and the nearest waterfall had dried up when ranchers had diverted the flow of the river years before to better suit their needs. As Stacey headed to the store to pick up her list of provisions, she glanced down the main street. The sheriff's office was not much further down and she paused in the doorway.

"Can I help ya, Missus Collins?"

Stacey forced a smile onto her face as she stepped across the threshold and nodded towards the owner. He was a plump man in his mid fifties who had run the mercantile for as long as most folks could remember. "Yes, Mister Baxter. I've got a list here of things I need. I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind collecting them for me while I go and run another errand. I shouldn't be too long."

"Course not ma'am. Your rig outside somewhere?"

Stacey pointed towards the wall and nodded. "It's just out there in the shade."

"Then I'll have young Jimmy load it for ya and we can settle when you are done with ya business."

"Thank you, you're too kind." Stacey flashed her biggest smile as she made her way towards the door. Something about the man always left her skin feeling somehow dirty, but since he kept his hands to himself, she had no choice but to buy from him. Of course Luke had always made it clear that his wife was off-limits, but that seemed so very long ago now.

It was only a few moments later that she found herself seated across from the sheriff with a glass of water in her hand. It had been over a year since Luke had died, but every time she saw his brother, the resemblance caused her to pause. Over time, the pain had begun to ease a little, but it still caused a measure of grief to see a man who looked so similar to the man she had loved since she was fourteen and yet it wasn't him. For his part, Harry had guessed as much, but there wasn't much he could do about it except grow a beard. If that bit of personal discomfort helped in some small measure, he was happy to oblige. After all, he'd failed his brother and his wife in every way that mattered. Luke's murderer had never been brought to justice and it weighed heavily on the sheriff every time he thought of his brother's young widow. They had barely shared five months of marriage before tragedy struck. At just a few weeks short of twenty, there were times that Stacey seemed to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"Stace, whatta ya been doing? I haven't seen you in town for weeks and I was starting to get a little worried. I planned to come and check on you, but I had to head over to Carson City first and follow up on that gang of rustlers."

"I've had a guest at the ranch." Stacey fiddled with the waist of her dress as she tried to avoid eye contact. Harry could be overprotective when he chose to be and she just knew this was going to be one of those times.

"A guest? Didn't think you knew many folks out this way."

"Well he wasn't exactly invited."

Harry was half way to his feet as Stacey waved at him to sit down. "Calm down! I'm not in any trouble. He was … and I helped him."

The lawman's instincts were already on alert at her first comment, but the second one just shifted them up a notch.

"All right, I think you'd better start at the beginning! Who is he? And what kinda trouble is he in that he needs your help?"

"Harry!"

"Now don't you "Harry" me! I promised Luke I'd watch out for you and I intend to keep that promise." Harry waved a finger towards her and Stacey couldn't help but smile.

"I'm not a child, Harry."

Harry sighed as he looked at his sister-in-law. "I know that, Stace. And I know you can look after yourself. But it's a big brother's job to worry." The half smile that graced his face did not quite conceal a flash of pain. "Now who is he? And what's he want with you?"

"Well, I was sort of hoping you could help me to find out who he is. His name is Joe, but that's all he remembers."

"Stacey! This fella's got some kinda scam going and you are his next target! A pretty little thing like you, out there alone … you know how easy …"

She reached across the desk and grasped at his hand. "No, it's no scam! He turned up almost two weeks back and somebody had nearly killed him. He'd been beaten … badly and shot in the shoulder."

"So you took him in like some kinda stray. And I don't s'pose you ever thought it'd be a good idea to tell me!"

"Harry, he could barely stand up, let alone be any kind of threat to me. I was too scared to leave him in case he died while I was gone! He didn't remember anything much at first, but yesterday he recalled his brother's name is Adam. I was hoping you might have some kind of missing person report or something. I mean, somebody must be missing him by now."

"All right, Stace. Let's assume for a minute that it's not a scam. What's this Joe fella look like?"

"About your height. Brown hair. Green eyes. He's young, maybe a little older than me."

Harry pushed himself away from the desk and grabbed a couple of mugs from the bench behind him. He hesitated with pouring two coffees as his mind chewed over the possibilities. He had a wire sitting in his drawer from the sheriff of Virginia City searching out just such a man. There were no specifics other than a general description and he found his lawman's instincts kicking in. Why would a sheriff send out a wire like that for an innocent man? He didn't want to jump the gun and alarm Stacey, but he needed to check on a few things. He also knew how stubborn the woman could be and he needed to tread carefully. He slowly turned back with a mug of coffee in each hand and smiled as he pushed one across the table.

"Tell you what. I'll send out some wires and see what I can find. In the meantime, do me a favour and don't let on to this fella you've been to see me. Don't want to scare him."

Stacey sipped at the coffee as she considered the request. In some ways, Harry was just like Luke. Both men thought they could pull the wool over her eyes and both men had thought of her as somebody who needed to be sheltered. Luke had held her in his arms at night and told her of all the things he wished for her. He thought she didn't know that something was wrong and she had begged him to tell her what it was. As the roles reversed and she held him in her arms as he died, he had taken that information to his grave. Of course all that had done was push Harry into protective mode even more than before. He'd failed his younger brother, but he vowed he would not fail his new sister ever again.

"Fine, just let me know as soon as you find something."

* * *

Glen pulled out his canteen and took a long pull from it. He hadn't slept at all the night before and had walked around in a daze long after Nate and Mac had disappeared into the treeline. He'd hoped to sneak back into the bunkhouse the next morning, but several of the hands were already up and waiting on the verandah for the call to breakfast. He felt his stomach lurch at the thought of food and hastily retreated to the barn instead. He needed an excuse if anybody called him out over his whereabouts and the barn seemed like the obvious choice. He quickly rubbed a handful of hay into his hair and stepped back out into the early morning gloom while scratching at his head.

"Where you been, boy?" Nate was beside him before he even knew where the shadow emerged from and he stiffened.

"I slept in the hay. Couldn't get no rest from these dang bruises!" As if to emphasize the point, he lifted his shirt and rubbed at a sore spot. There was no mistaking the black and purple skin beneath the fabric and Nate frowned at him.

"Well, if you weren't so busy showin' off to Hoss and tryin' so hard to impress the Cartwrights, you'd be a whole lot less sore!" The distaste in his words as he spoke the Cartwright name could not be disguised and Glen almost pulled back from him.

"I'm just trying to break me a horse. Hoss has been showing me the ropes."

"Pity Joe ain't here no more to show you." Glen barely managed to keep his composure as he looked at the barely disguised contempt on Nate's face. "Course, who knows where he is now? He could be half way to Mexico by now." The sound of his laughter made Glen shiver as he made his way towards the bunkhouse. "Or he could be dead in a ditch somewhere. Who knows?" Glen couldn't be sure if he was being tested or simply imagining things, but either way, he wanted to put as much distance between them as possible.

* * *

Roy looked at the wire in his hand and felt a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. It seemed that Joe had surfaced at last. As he read down the page again, one line made the smile slide off his face. Instead of simply responding to a query about the boy's whereabouts, it seemed Joe was under some suspicion. He just couldn't decide what for. If Adam hadn't ridden out the day before, he'd have passed him the wire and sent him off for Silver Falls. Instead, he'd have to send a few wires and hope to intercept him in his search for his brother. It was hours later when Roy was headed back to his office and he looked up to see a young cowboy leaning against the door. His stance was tense and Roy guessed he was barely keeping himself from pacing. His hat was pulled low over his face and he seemed intent on keeping himself in the shadows.

"Something wrong, son?"

The lad shuffled from one foot to the other and kept his head low. "Need to talk to you, in private. Not out here!"

"Sure." Roy nudged the door open and pointed towards the darkening interior. He'd not bothered to light a lamp before leaving, not expecting to be gone so long. His time had been taken up in the telegraph office, trying to cover all possibilities of where Adam could be while waiting for a follow up wire from Silver Falls. It hadn't come and twilight had crept up on him instead.

As Glen edged inside, he kept looking up and down the street, as if waiting for something. Or someone. "Sheriff, I heard tell that you and Mister Cartwright are longtime friends."

Roy lit a lamp and dropped into his chair as he waved towards another one. "I've known Ben a good many years. What's that to you?"

''Would you know if he had any enemies?"

Roy leaned forward onto his desk and considered the young cowhand sitting across from him. "I think you'd best get to the point young fella." The warning growl in his voice reminded Glen of his pa when he was bordering on a dumb decision.

Glen shifted in his seat and sucked in a deep breath. "I think somebody has murdered Little Joe and I think they did it to get back at Mister Cartwright for something."

"Now that ain't the slightest bit funny!"

"I'm not funnin', Sheriff. I wish I was!"

Roy watched as the colour drained from the young man's face and he decided that for whatever reason, he really did believe what he was saying. Except Roy had a wire in his pocket that seemed to indicate otherwise. The one that said that Joe was injured after possibly being attacked. Assuming it really was Joe.

"Ever been to Silver Falls?"

Glen frowned as the conversation shifted suddenly. "No, sir. Never heard of it."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes, Sheriff. I'm real sure! Why?"

"No concern. Now suppose you tell me where you got this fool idea that Little Joe's been murdered."

* * *

Adam slopped the last of his coffee into the grass beside him and settled back against his bedroll. He hadn't been expecting to find Joe on his first day out, but he couldn't ignore a sense of disappointment that washed over him. He felt the prickle of irritation arising again that he was even out on the trail instead of eating Hop Sing's supper, but he squashed it back down.

As sleep finally claimed him, he found himself dreaming of a small boy who trailed behind him like a shadow. How he wished he had never chased that shadow away.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you for your continuing comments and messages. I'm enjoying writing this even if it has veered off track from where I started. I hope I'm answering a few questions for you, but all will be revealed.

 **Chapter Five**

Roy had waited all day for a wire that never came from the sheriff of Silver Falls. He knew that other more urgent matters could have taken the man out of town or kept him busy, but he still waited and hoped that some more details would come through and confirm that it was actually Joe he was describing.

He'd listened the night before as the young ranch hand had poured out his suspicions and worries over the fate of his friend's younger brother. In a twisted kind of way, it had made sense when he combined it with Adam's doubts and Glen had seemed surprised that he was actually being taken seriously. If he hadn't held a wire in his pocket that told him Joe, or somebody who seemed to fit his description, was currently being cared for by someone in Silver Falls, the sheriff might have acted differently. He had no wish to tell one of his oldest friends that his son's body was possibly rotting somewhere up in the hills and he would not voice that concern until he'd ruled out the other possibilities. He would not cause his friend any unnecessary grief and he'd sworn the young hand to silence until he'd had time to investigate further. The only way he'd managed to convince the boy to do so was to share the wire he'd received from Silver Falls. The holes in his theory just frustrated him and he had no idea how Joe could have made it to Silver Falls without his horse, but it drove him to push on for the answers. He knew that the youngest Cartwright could be resourceful when he needed to be and if he was injured, that just gave him greater incentive to find help. As Roy waited, he just wished that Adam would respond to one of the numerous wires he'd sent out in the hope he might get one of them somewhere along the trail.

As Glen had slipped out of the sheriff's office the night before and made his way to where he'd left his horse, he had no idea he was being watched from the shadows. He'd ridden all the way back to the ranch, believing he'd been discrete enough. His heart lurched between fear that Nate wasn't boasting and the sheriff's assurances that Joe was actually safe in another town. He had a fair idea how Hoss would react to news of his brother's death and he kept his mouth shut as he had promised. The day seemed to drag on as he tried to concentrate on ranch chores and keep his mind from wandering off. Every time he looked up, he had the unnerving sense that he was being watched and he could not shake the itch that ran down the back of his neck. He was almost relieved when Nate had not returned after the day's work was done and someone said he'd gone into town instead.

* * *

"I'm not doing anything else for you, so don't even ask. You owe me! You're gonna pay or I'm gonna march right over to that sheriff's office and tell him zactly what you've been up to out at that Cartwright ranch."

Nate gripped his hand onto the railing as he stared at one of the mercenary young drifters he'd invested in. His hand itched to take a swing at him, but he kept his temper in check and considered what he was going to do. Maybe the kid had reached the end of his usefulness, but his friend was nowhere to be seen and Nate didn't dare act unless he had both of them.

"No need for that. You just need to keep your mouth shut, you hear?"

"Then I reckon you owe me. I've done everything you told me to and the money ain't been enough. You took a coupla shots at me that I wasn't expecting and you coulda killed me!"

"I told you what the plan was and you agreed. That kid needed to think you were his brother and that he was dead. Kinda hard to make it look like I shot you if I didn't fire my gun!"

"Well maybe I oughta take a wild shot at you sometime and see how you deal with it."

Nate's mouth twitched at the edges as he stared at the face that was only inches from his. He could smell the sour tang of whiskey and he wondered if it was just alcohol fuelled bravado he was dealing with or a kid who had grown too big for his britches. Either way, he was dangerous and needed to shut up before anybody overheard him.

"So how much do ya reckon you've got coming to you?"

"Well, I reckon you've only paid me half my wages so far. My price just doubled."

Nate stared at the young fool who thought he could outwit him, but he kept his thoughts to himself. "Meet me back here in an hour."

As he turned to walk out of the alleyway, he could hear the sound of laughter at his back. He clenched his fists and forced himself to keep walking. It seemed that too many loose ends needing tying up.

* * *

It was well past dark when Roy heard shouting outside and he hurried to the door to see what was going on.

"Sheriff! You gotta come quick!"

It was Mal Peters who had come running from the street and he was almost breathless as he pulled up in front of the lawman.

"Pa said to get ya, right quick. There's two bodies out the back of the Bucket of Blood."

As Roy hurried along with the young lad, he fully expected to find bodies with bullet holes in them. What he came upon instead was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. He'd heard tell of killers who mutilated bodies, but he'd never seen it for himself. There were knife wounds in both bodies, but it was the fact their tongues had been cut out that knocked the breath out of him. Men milled around at the end of the alleyway and someone at least had the sense to keep the womenfolk out of sight, but Roy knew that the rumour mill would have already been running at full steam. He could hear the speculation going on behind him and the rising voices and he stood up to address the small crowd that was growing by the minute.

"Now just simmer down. Alla ya! We don't know what happened here yet, but if anybody has anything more useful than guesses, I need to know."

"Those two fellas was out drinking with one of the Ponderosa hands last night. I saw them at the Silver Dollar."

Roy looked over to see who was talking and he nodded at the man. "Any idea which one? Ben's got a lot of 'em out there at the moment."

"Don't know a name, but I seen him around here for a while now."

Once Roy had the bodies carted off to the undertaker's office for further examination and the back end of the alley roped off with thick rope, he left a deputy behind and made his way over to the Silver Dollar. Sam seemed to have been alerted to the rumours already and was waiting for him to show up.

"Those two young fellas have been hanging around for a while. Couple of saddle tramps that didn't seem to have any kind of fixed work, but always had coin for whiskey."

"Any idea who the ranch hand is they were seen with last night." Roy leaned on the bar as Sam nodded his head.

"One of the new ones Ben hired a few months back. His name's Nate."

"Thanks, Sam." Roy tipped his hat as he headed back out of the saloon and made straight for his horse. It wasn't the kind of call he wanted to be making on his friend, but it was unavoidable.

* * *

Glen stood behind several of the others and listened as various comments were tossed around the bunkhouse. Most of the men had been getting ready for bed when a horse had trotted into the yard and somebody had hammered on the door of the main house. It wasn't like the Cartwrights didn't sometimes get late callers, but it was unusual enough to have caused a couple of them to head outside and check that nothing was amiss. Hank was protective of his employers, having enjoyed his job as foreman for several years and he frowned as he saw Roy Coffee heading inside. Nothing good could come of such a late visit from the sheriff and he hoped the man wasn't delivering bad news. He'd known Ben and his sons long enough to know that Joe's continued absence was eating at all of them and he hoped his boss wasn't about to be hit with bad news.

It was less than ten minutes later that the door of the bunkhouse pushed open and Ben stepped into the room. The men stopped talking at once and looked to see the sheriff eyeing them all.

"Nate, Sheriff Coffee would like a word with you."

Glen held his breath as Nate walked past him and moved towards the outer verandah. He could have sworn the man flicked a brief look his way, but it was so fleeting that he could not be sure if he was imagining it. Had he been seen the night before when he went to speak with the sheriff? The man made his blood run cold and he mentally berated himself for letting his imagination run away on him.

It felt like hours before they re-entered the room and Roy called out Mac. Nate shrugged his shoulders at the questions that came his way once the sheriff had headed back outside.

"Seems some fellas I had a beer with yesterday got themselves killed in town tonight and had their tongues cut out!" The mock outrage in his voice carried across the room and drew muttered responses. "Sheriff just wanted to know if I knew of anybody who'd wanta kill them and if they were in any kinda trouble. I couldn't tell him nothing cos Mac and me weren't even in town tonight and I've got no idea who'd do something so sick."

Glen felt his stomach lurch as he noted Nate looking his way. As much as he'd tried to tell himself that he wasn't being watched, he suddenly knew without a doubt that he was. Mac and Nate had arrived back late and almost missed supper, claiming they'd been enjoying the company of a couple of local sisters which drew a round of snickers and admiring comments. The hint of perfume that lingered on Nate's shirt had drawn another round of lewd comments. While he was mulling that over and wondering how to keep himself from bolting from the room, Sheriff Coffee walked back in through the door, followed by Mac and both Ben and Hoss. As Roy outlined what had happened in town and asked if anybody knew anything further, Glen found himself trying to sink into the shadows. He needed to speak, but this was not the time. He wasn't really listening any further until he heard Nate's voice beside him. The man was talking to another hand, but he didn't miss the implied threat in the seemingly innocent comment.

"Whoever did that, didn't want them blabbing their mouths, I guess."

He shivered as he turned towards his bunk and stripped back the blanket. He could not shake the feeling of a mouse being toyed with by a barn cat and it was all he could do to keep a straight face. It would be many hours before he could find any kind of solace in sleep.

* * *

Adam turned his horse towards the nearest saloon and pulled up alongside the hitching rail. He slid from the saddle and tipped his hat back further on his head as he walked inside. It looked like every other saloon in every other town and he barely contained a tired sigh as he ordered a beer and leaned on the bar. Nevada territory was dotted with little one-horse towns and he aimed to search every one of them until he found his brother and dragged him back home where he belonged. Joe hadn't drawn anything from his bank since he'd left and it was clear that he had to be working somewhere to keep himself provisioned. Somebody had to know something and Adam leaned over to strike up a conversation with yet another bartender in the hopes of finding some answers.

The conversation was stilted at first until the saloon doors swung open and the local sheriff wandered in. He eyed up the stranger and propped himself up against the bar. The bartender didn't need to ask what he wanted and a beer soon appeared in front of him. The sheriff kept a hand near his gun as he watched the stranger drinking his own beer. It was a small enough town that he kept a wary eye on anybody who rode in, knowing that he was the only law for many miles.

"What brings you to Dusty Creek?"

The stranger pushed at his hat and took another sip of his beer. "I'm looking for my brother."

The sheriff straightened up and eyed the man a little closer. That wire had said the man'd be wearing all black. "Don't suppose your name is Adam by any chance?"

Adam stared at him as he nodded. "Cartwright. Adam Cartwright. How did you know that?" His heart rate jumped a notch as he wondered if the man somehow knew Joe and had maybe heard a description of his oldest brother.

"Well I guess it's your lucky day, Mister Adam Cartwright. I got me a wire over there in my office from a sheriff back in Virginia City with your name on it."

Adam frowned as he considered why Roy would be wiring a town he did not even know Adam would be traveling through.

"It was pretty short, but he said your brother is in Silver Falls. Said to send you to the sheriff there."

The bartender laughed as he listened in on the conversation. "Your brother one to go getting hisself in trouble with the law?"

Adam barely contained a groan as he considered the answer. Yes, it was entirely possible that Joe was in trouble with the law, especially given the mood he'd been in when he left the Ponderosa. He tipped his hat in acknowledgement of the sheriff's news and headed towards the door.

"Thanks."

* * *

Joe leaned against the wall of the tiny room he'd been sleeping in and tried to contain the dizziness that still plagued him. His shoulder was healing reasonably well, although it was going to leave an ugly scar. His bruises had mostly faded, but the memory of the beating that caused them would not soon fade. His memory was returning in patchy details and he knew he had another brother and a father waiting somewhere for him, but he couldn't grasp where that might be. Each time he tried to focus on those memories, his grief would spiral up and choke the thoughts right out his head. It was almost as though his body was trying desperately to protect his mind from whatever it was hiding. The resultant headaches were bearable some days and almost crippling on others. Stacey had almost dragged him to bed the night before as he could not carry his own weight.

As he allowed himself to regain his balance, he heard voices outside. Someone was shouting and his instincts kicked in before his rational mind did.

"Stacey, you in there?"

Harry had learned a long time ago not to approach the house without alerting the single occupant first or he was liable to end up facing a shotgun. Luke's death had hardened her in a way that nothing would ever soften. He'd tried to get her to move into town, but Stacey had stubbornly refused. They'd argued more than once over how safe she would be in town in comparison to the tiny ranch on her own, but she would not leave. Instead, she managed to make a go of it by share cropping with a neighbour and allowing him to run his stock on her land for a fee. She had better access to water year round and the soil was more fertile. Harry knew it would never make much money, but his stubborn young sister-in-law would not have it any other way. The vegetable garden and her trap lines gave her all that she needed and he had to take his hat off to her persistence.

"Stacey?" He shouted again and was half way through dismounting when she came hurrying up from the woodpile. He took the armful of wood from her grasp and stepped back as she pulled the front door open. She screamed as a hand shot out and hauled her inside. Harry found himself caught with his hands full and no way to pull his gun, but the man behind him had his out and pointed through the doorway before he could speak. The barrel of a shotgun waved back at them as Joe sized up the man in the doorway.

"Joe, put that thing down before you shoot the sheriff!" As Stacey wiggled free of his grasp, she noted the look on his face and could see the effort it was taking to stand up. "It's alright, this is Harry."

"Heard shouting. Thought you were in trouble."

"Well my gallant knight, thank you for rescuing me, but I'm not a damsel in distress."

As Harry stepped across the threshold and dropped the wood by the stove, another shadow walked through the door behind him. Before Adam could speak, he watched Joe sway on his feet and drop to his knees. He surged forward and grasped at his brother as the shotgun clattered to the floor.

"Joe!" Stacey almost pushed the stranger aside until she realised he wasn't hurting her patient. "In there, you can lay him down on the bed."

As Adam half carried his brother across behind the curtain, he wondered why Joe was looking at him as if he'd seen a ghost. Before he could ask anything, he was nudged aside as Stacey dropped onto the bed and began wiping at Joe's face with a damp rag.

"Just breathe. This will pass. Just breathe now."

Joe tried to push up from the bed, but he groaned as his head lifted from the pillow and he closed his eyes.

"Harry, get me that bowl! He's likely to be sick when he gets like this."

"What's wrong with my brother?" Adam leaned over her shoulder as Stacey continued her ministrations.

"Your brother?" She twisted back to look at the man behind her. "You're Hoss?"

Adam couldn't help a small smile as he thought nobody had ever confused him with Hoss before. "No, I'm Adam."

"Adam? But Joe said … I'm sorry … but Joe thinks you are dead!"


	6. Chapter 6

Well, I'm not sure Adam is going to like all the answers he finds, but at least the net is moving a little closer around Nate. Or is it?

 **Chapter Six**

Adam ran a finger up and down the side of the mug of coffee as if trying to keep himself focused. His mind swirled with questions. He could not suppress the fear that still churned in his gut as he recalled the sight of his brother dropping like a stone.

"Why on earth did Joe think I was dead?" The question came out harsher than he intended, but he couldn't help it. The more he searched for answers, the more cloudy things became.

Stacey took a sip from her own mug and tried to decide where to start. Harry was watching her intently and she knew that Joe's actions in pointing a loaded shotgun at him had done nothing to calm his concerns about the stranger she was sheltering.

"Perhaps it would help if I started from the beginning." When Adam simply nodded at her, Stacey continued on. "I have no idea how he got here, but Joe wandered onto my front porch weeks ago. He'd been badly beaten and I'm assuming he'd been shot in the shoulder. There was no bullet in the wound and it was an awful mess, so I'm guessing he dug it out himself."

She flinched as she recalled the sight of dried blood and then the fresh blood that had welled up from the wound as she had tended to it. Harry didn't miss her reaction and was pretty sure he knew the cause of it. He reached a hand across to pat the back of hers and she smiled up at him, as if drawing strength from him.

"He was so sick and half out of his mind with fever. At first, I thought he was going to die and I didn't dare leave him long enough to get a doctor. He's a stubborn one though and he began to get better."

Adam smiled at her description of his brother and nodded. "Mule-headed would be more like it!"

Stacey laughed as she heard a brother's love in the insult. She suddenly turned serious again as she considered what came next.

"When Joe first started feeling better, he couldn't tell me anything about himself. He didn't know his own name, let alone where he had come from or what had happened to him. I'm guessing that whoever beat him, hit him in the head real hard. He gets awfully sick every time he gets worked up and tries to remember things."

Adam gripped his mug tighter as he thought about who could have done such a thing and why. He'd seen the evidence for himself as Joe had emptied his stomach into the bowl before passing out on the bed.

"One morning, he was sitting right here at this table when he finally told me his name. At least he thought it was his name. He knew your name too, but neither of us could figure out who you were." Stacey's gaze slid to the floor and her cheeks coloured as she looked back at Joe's brother. "At first, he kept calling your name, well, shouting your name in his sleep. I thought you might have been the one who shot him."

Adam could see the effect that confession was having on her and he raised a gentle smile. "I have threatened it a time or two."

Harry laughed softly as he watched another older brother across the table from him. He'd said the same thing a few times himself. Of course, when Luke had been gunned down, those jokes had come back to bite him in his nightmares.

"Well, one day Joe almost came undone right in front of me. He suddenly knew who you were and he got real worked up about a letter. He said that somebody shot you because he argued about writing a letter. Does that mean anything to you?"

Adam frowned as he swigged another mouthful of coffee. "Joe sent us a letter after he left. He's got pretty distinctive handwriting and we couldn't deny he wrote it. It didn't make any sense at the time as it seemed like a complete over reaction. Joe was very angry and he said he was no longer part of our family. It hurt our pa more than I can describe."

"And you too?"

Adam looked up to see the faces before him. Harry seemed to look straight inside him as he spoke.

"At the time, I was so angry at Joe, I just …." He clenched his fist and chewed at a knuckle as he considered the things he'd said at the time. "After a while, I started to think something just didn't add up. Joe may be hotheaded, but he isn't cruel. That letter cut my father's heart out and now I find that he probably wrote it under duress."

"But that still doesn't explain why your brother thinks you are dead." The lawman's logic had been working over the details and Adam was right. Something definitely did not add up.

"What exactly did Joe say that makes him think that?"

Stacey brushed a hand down the side of her head, smoothing a few wayward strands of hair. "He kept dreaming, well, more like nightmares really. Little bits of memories came back in jumbled up pieces and one day he said that they shot you because he argued over writing that letter. He said he kept screaming at you, but you couldn't hear him."

Adam felt his throat tensing up as he considered how Joe would have reacted to that if it was what he truly believed happened.

"I don't understand! Nobody shot me, or even shot at me. When Joe left there was no sign of him. He just disappeared off the map and we thought that was what he wanted." Adam fought down a sense of failure as he realised his brother had desperately needed him and he'd been so angry and hurt that he'd done nothing to help him. Instead, he'd been almost happy to see the back of him. As he mulled over that recriminating thought, he heard the soft sounds of movement behind him.

"Adam?" Joe's uncertain voice carried through from beyond the flimsy curtain and Adam was across the room before he knew it. As he pulled the curtain back, he saw Joe struggling to pull himself upright. "Adam!"

"Easy there, just lie back down, Joe." Adam laid a hand across his chest to push his brother back down, but Joe latched onto his arm. Adam suddenly found himself enveloped as Joe wrapped both arms around his neck. Warm tears dribbled down the inside of his collar and he fought to contain his own emotions as he felt Joe shaking violently against him.

"It's alright, I'm not going anywhere."

Joe could not force his mouth to speak the words he so desperately wanted to and he simply clung to his brother. When the shaking finally subsided, he felt exhausted and his grip began to slip. Strong arms gently lowered him back against the pillow and he brushed a hand across his face, as if fearing his eyes were deceiving him.

"How?" The question was barely audible and Adam leaned forward.

"Joe, I don't know why you thought I was dead. Nobody ever took a shot at me."

"Nate! He tried to make me write a letter to Pa." Joe sucked in a sharp breath as he knew the pain his words would have caused. "Pa must hate me."

"Joe, Pa could never hate you!" Adam watched his brother's torment and he shook his head. "He was hurt, but he loves you. Always will, I'm afraid. He wanted me to come and find you and bring you home. You have to believe that."

"I didn't want to write it Adam. I tried to argue with him. Honest!" Joe searched his brother's face, looking for any trace of condemnation. All he saw was the steadfastness that Adam always brought to his life.

"The other one was with him. Can't think what his name is, but he's Nate's brother."

Adam frowned at Joe's comment as Nate did not have a brother. Of course, he had arrived around the same time as Mac and Glen and a couple of the others so maybe Joe had simply confused that detail. Whatever the case, his fist clenched around the blanket and he waited for Joe to go on.

"He had a shotgun to my head. Told me he'd blow my head off if I didn't write what he said. Adam, I couldn't say those things to Pa! I couldn't!"

Adam had his other hand resting against Joe's chest and suddenly his brother's hand snaked around his wrist.

"Adam … I saw you in the valley below. Nate …" The words choked in his throat and Joe turned his head away as more tears pooled in his eyes. Suddenly he turned back towards his brother. "I saw him shoot you, Adam! Right off your horse. I saw it!"

"Joe, I know you've been sick and your memories are a little murky, but ..."

"I saw it! He told me he'd kill Hoss next and then he'd gun down Pa if I didn't do what he wanted."

Adam found himself floundering for something to say as he listened to the anguish in his brother's voice.

"It's alright Joe. I don't know quite what's going on, but I promise you that both Hoss and Pa are fine."

"Is Nate still there?"

Adam nodded slowly as Joe tried once again to force himself upright.

"Then we need to get back there, Adam!" As he pushed up onto his elbows, Adam tried to fight him, but Joe was having none of it and he shoved Adam's hands away. "He'll hurt them! We have to get back home! He's crazy, Adam."

The two brothers had almost forgotten they still had an audience until Harry stepped forward. "I can always send a wire to the sheriff. Let them know what's going on."

Adam looked over his shoulder and nodded in agreement. "Thanks. I don't know that Joe is up to riding anywhere yet, but they need to be warned. I'd appreciate it."

"Just get me a horse and I'll ride out of here today!" Joe's ashen features belied the determined response and Adam smiled at him.

"Sure you will."

* * *

"Did ya sleep well, boy?"

Glen opened his eyes to find Nate leaning up against his bunk. He forced himself not to react and tried to fake a yawn instead.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

The pointed comment hit its mark and he sucked in a sharp breath as the man's eyes seemed to bore right into him. The glint of a knife caught his attention and he found himself frozen under the blanket. He wanted to shout for help, but he wasn't sure if it would come before Nate slid the knife in between his ribs. Several men milled around the bunkhouse, but they all seemed oblivious to the snake standing right in their midst.

Glen swallowed hard as he stared at the man he had known was trouble from the very first. He couldn't explain it beyond what his mother had often described as his nose for such things. Even as a child he could pick up on folks who weren't what they appeared to be. It had cost him some friendships as a youngster, but he'd learned to trust it. It was one of the reasons he'd gravitated to Hoss and enjoyed being around him. Something about the gentle giant made him feel safe and welcome.

"It'd be a right shame if the Cartwrights found out what kinda man you really are. I bet I could get them to throw you right out of here. If I could get them to turn against one of their own, imagine how easy it'd be to get them to turn on you. Maybe even get that dumb sheriff to toss you in his jail. Or maybe Mac and me could find some evidence of how you killed Little Joe. I know just where you buried his jacket to hide the evidence. It'd be a right shame if it turned up in your gear, now wouldn't it?"

"Hey you lazy clod! Get on outta bed before I have to come over there and shake you loose!" Hank stomped closer, but his face crinkled into a grin as he threw a pillow in Glen's direction. Nate picked it up off the floor and turned back with a laugh.

"That's what I was just telling him! Told him you'd eat all the flapjacks if he didn't get himself moving."

A few laughs echoed around the room as the last of the men trailed in the door. Nate turned towards Glen with an icy stare before turning and silently heading for the table. It was all he could manage to haul himself out from the tangle of blankets and pull his shirt on, but Glen felt his stomach lurching from side to side. He forced himself to breathe and made his way towards the breakfast that others had carried inside. Food was the last thing he wanted and nobody seemed to notice as he avoided going anywhere near the table where Nate was seated.

* * *

The day seemed to drag as Glen trailed across the hills in search of strays. Several others were spread out across the area and he prayed that he'd have a chance to speak with Hoss before the day was out. He debated just riding off and heading for the sheriff, but he knew it would be his word against Nate's. He had no real proof of anything and a gut feeling didn't count as proof. If Nate was true to his threat and he worked together with Mac to frame him, there was nothing he could do to help himself. He couldn't afford a lawyer and he was pretty sure none of the Cartwrights would want to help him if he was accused of murdering one of their own. He wished that the sheriff had come back to him with word from Silver Falls and suddenly he had his answer.

He'd ride to Silver Falls and find out for himself. If Joe really was there, he'd prove Nate was at best, a liar. If not, well he guessed he'd seen the last of his job on the Ponderosa because there was no way he could come back if Nate poisoned them against him.

He turned his horse for the ranch house and made his plans as he rode.

* * *

Roy read the wire again and shook his head as he walked. He had known the Kelly brothers would get caught out sooner or later and their string of bank robberies would come to an end. He just hadn't counted on it happening in Carson City since they never seemed to hit the same place twice. They'd been dumb enough to go back for seconds and their luck had finally run out. He sighed as he headed for home and grabbed the supplies he'd need for the ride to Carson City. He knew the trial would proceed whether or not he got there in time, but his word could help seal the deal against them. He just hoped that things stayed quiet in Virginia City for his deputy's sake.


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you to the guest reviewers that I can't reply to personally as well as everyone else for your thoughts. I hope you are still enjoying this.

 **Chapter Seven**

Ben watched as Cochise trotted up and down against the corral and he wandered over towards the horse. He felt heartsick to see the animal caged up in such a way and yet he could not bring himself to turn his son's horse loose. The horse could not be kept in the barn indefinitely and this was the best compromise he was willing to make so far. A voice whispered in his ear each night asking whether his son would ever return home to claim his horse and yet each new morning brought a measure of hope with it.

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

He had quoted that verse to himself so many times it seemed to speak all by itself into the cool evening air. Which morning and could he endure that long were the real questions he didn't want to ask. He had spent far too many nights pacing the floor of his room and he was not ashamed to admit he had shed more than enough tears. As he reached out to scratch the horse's muzzle, he swallowed down the lump that arose in his chest.

"Come home, son," he whispered. "I need you to come home."

Cochise seemed to sense his melancholy mood and nuzzled closer.

"You miss him too, don't you?" For a moment, Ben felt foolish talking to a horse and then he almost laughed as he considered the lengthy conversations his son seemed to carry on with his horse. Of course, Joe swore that Cochise agreed with everything he said to him. The laugh died as quickly as it had come and he forced himself to return to the house. It seemed that everywhere he went, something reminded him of his absent son and his heart ached all the more. He'd tried keeping busy and all he'd managed to achieve was to unintentionally push away his other two sons. When Adam had announced he was going looking for Joe, Ben had felt a profound sense of relief. If Joe was angry at his father and refused to speak with him, perhaps he might just listen to his brother. A father could only hope.

Hoss leaned against the doorpost and watched his father's aimless path across the yard. Joe had broken something indefinable when he had penned those cruel words all those weeks ago and Hoss felt helpless to put it back together.

"Supper's almost ready, Pa." Neither of them were especially hungry, but Hoss forced on a smile as he headed back into the house and pulled out a chair. The two empty places just seemed to shout at him and he swallowed down a vague sense of unease. Nothing had felt right for weeks and he knew that nothing would until his whole family once again sat down to supper at the table.

* * *

Hank almost fell down onto his bunk and he felt his back give a sharp twinge as he did so. It had been a hard day in the saddle and he felt his age was finally starting to catch up on him. As he tugged the kerchief loose from his neck, he noted the amount of dirt that came away with it. Moving the herd into the northern pasture meant pushing them through a dustbowl at the lower end and he felt like he'd swallowed a good couple of quarts of dirt in the process. He ached enough that he was almost ready to bypass supper and just head straight to bed. He slid down onto the pillow and figured that a few minutes shuteye wouldn't go astray. He barely had his eyes closed when he heard a horse gallop into the yard. It wasn't officially part of his duties as foreman to check on visitors, but something had been off for weeks now and he was worried at how his boss was traveling. He'd never seen Ben look the way he had in recent days and he felt protective enough of the man to swing his feet back to the floor and head for the door of the bunkhouse. He ignored the other men who poked their noses out the door and watched as one of the young Perkins boys dismounted and quickly wound his reins around the hitching post.

He recognised the young lad from a nearby ranch and wondered why he seemed in such a hurry. "Somethin' we can do for ya, Jim?"

"Is Mister Cartwright in? I got somethin' important for him. Gotta deliver it tonight. Glen said it was real important."

Hank stepped off the porch and suddenly realised he hadn't seen his youngest hand all afternoon. "Glen? What's he got to do with anything?"

"He was in a right hurry this afternoon. Said he needed to get to Silver Falls and that I needed to bring this here letter out to Mister Cartwright tonight."

As Hank pointed towards the main house, he was oblivious to the men behind him. He had no idea that Nate had heard the comment and was casually making his way back to the bunkhouse. Instead, his mind was scrambling for reasons why Glen would have suddenly taken off for Silver Falls of all places without so much as a by-your-leave.

Hoss was trying to find something more interesting to talk about over supper than calves and pasture lands when he heard a loud knocking at the door. He pushed his chair back and strode across the room, almost relieved that the evening meal had been interrupted. As he opened the door, he was surprised to see Frank Perkins' middle boy standing there with Hank hovering right behind him.

"Jim? Come on in." He stepped back and held the door open as Hank followed the lad inside, uninvited.

"Sorry to barge in, Hoss, but young Jim here said he had a message from Glen and, well, I don't know nothin' about him leavin' all of a sudden, so thought I should check with you."

Hoss frowned at the comment and noted that his father had moved up beside him. "You know anything about Glen leavin', Pa?"

"No. What's this all about?"

Jim shuffled from one foot to the other and tried not to look nervous. "Don't want to get him into any trouble or nothin', but he came riding past our ranch around mid afternoon. He said he had some urgent business in Silver Falls and couldn't take the time to come back and let you all know he was leavin'. He asked me to bring this to you, but it was kinda strange. Said he didn't want me bringin' it until after supper. When I asked why, he said you'd know why when you read it."

Ben reached for the envelope with his name clearly written across the front and he pulled a single sheet of paper from within its folds. His face creased into a frown as he read the words hastily scrawled across the page.

"Pa, what's it say?" Hoss watched his father's face flick from anger to fear and back again in the space of seconds. He stepped closer and took hold of the paper as his father held it towards him.

 _Mr Cartwright, you need to speak to Sheriff Coffee and ask him what we talked about. Don't trust Nate or Mac. I think they killed the two men in Virginia City. I think that Joe is in Silver Falls but I think they also tried to kill him. I'll explain when I get back._

 _Glen_

Hank watched as Hoss's face turned to thunder and he looked back and forth between father and son. Before he could speak, Ben turned to the young lad standing nervously waiting.

"Jim, what exactly did Glen say to you? Exactly!"

The boy swallowed a gulp and chewed on his bottom lip. "Well, he said he was ridin' to Silver Falls and he said that I shouldn't say anything to anybody …" All three men stared at him as he suddenly thought of something. "I guess I forgot that bit. He told me not to tell anybody he was goin' there, 'cept you Mister Cartwright. Sorry."

"It's alright. Just tell me what else he said."

"He said that he needed to get there right quick and it would take too long to come and find you first. I thought it was kinda strange since he was comin' from the Ponderosa road, but he was real certain about it. He told me I had to bring this letter and only give it to you or Hoss. Nobody else. He made me promise that I'd wait until after supper, but I don't know why."

"Maybe to give him time to get going before anyone could follow him?" Hoss figured that was the only reason that made sense to him.

"Why would he be worried about being followed?" Hank looked at Hoss as he considered the comment.

"Read that and you tell me!" Hoss thrust the letter towards the foreman and scratched at the back of his neck as he wondered why Joe would be in Silver Falls and just what could have happened to send him there.

"You say nothing! I don't want to spook them." Ben raised a hand to Hank as he looked up. "I need to speak to Roy first and then we decide what to do."

As if he'd almost forgotten about the young lad standing before him, Ben suddenly clapped him on the shoulder. "Jim, you'll be coming with me and I'll take you home on the way into town. Say nothing to anybody that you've even seen Glen. I'll explain to your pa on the way through. It's important, son."

"Sure thing Mister Cartwright. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say nothin' before."

"It's alright. Just remember, it's really important to keep this quiet for now."

"I'll saddle a horse for you Mister Cartwright. And don't worry, I'll keep an eye on those two until you get back." Hank was already moving out the door as Ben was buckling on his gunbelt and reaching for his hat.

"Go and wait by you horse, son and I'll be out shortly." Ben nodded towards Jim. Hoss moved up beside him and frowned at his father.

"Somethin's not right, Pa. I got a bad feelin'! If somebody tried to hurt Joe, why wouldn't he let us know? Why not come on home?"

Ben frowned at the question. "I don't know, Son. But I intend to find out. I just hope his stubbornness hasn't bitten him too hard this time." He clapped a hand across his son's shoulder as he moved towards the door.

"Mister Cartwright!" Hank's voice carried across on the still night air and both men rushed for the door. The foreman was running towards them and he looked furious.

"They're gone! Nate and Mac! They're both gone. Musta heard what young Jim said and knew someone was onto them."

"Glen!" Hoss stared at his father as he took in the situation. "If they heard where he's gone, then he's in danger. We've gotta help him, Pa."

Ben nodded as he pushed his way out the door. "They also know where Joe is!"

The next few moments became a flurry of activity as directions were issued for provisions and horses and somebody to escort Jim home. Men had spilled out of the bunkhouse after Hank's search had come up empty. Nobody was quite sure what was going on, but it was clear that something was terribly wrong. As Ben climbed onto Buck and tugged at the reins, he was surprised to see Hank pulling alongside him.

"I'm comin' with you, Boss. Those two are my responsibility." The firm set of his jaw told Ben that arguing was simply going to waste time they did not have. "I've sent Smoky for the sheriff and filled him in. We gotta get goin'."

Ben didn't bother answering him, but kicked his horse's flanks and rode off in a cloud of dust with Hoss and Hank right behind him.

* * *

Joe stared at the sheriff as if he was speaking a foreign language. "Are you telling me that Roy hasn't got our wire?"

"I don't know that for sure. I just know that he hasn't responded. That could mean any of a dozen things."

"It means Roy hasn't got our wire." Adam frowned as he considered the implications of that. "You have to understand, Harry. Roy's not just the sheriff. He's a longtime family friend. If he knew any of this, we'd have heard back by now."

"So Pa and Hoss don't know what's going on. Adam, you have to believe me! Nate's crazy. We have to get back there. Get me a horse!"

Adam stepped closer to try to keep his brother calm and knew he was wasting his breath. Before he could open his mouth, Joe was moving towards the door.

"Adam, I mean it! Get me a horse or I'll take yours. We have to warn them. Nate said that ..." The words choked off as Adam reached for his arm.

"Joe, I agree with you. I'm just worried that you aren't ready to ride anywhere yet. You're still weak from being sick and those dizzy spells haven't stopped yet. Pa and Hoss can take care of themselves well enough." It was meant to bring reassurance, but it just fueled Joe's distress even more.

"Then I'll walk!" Joe grasped at his brother's shirt, his desperation clear to them all. "Adam, please! This is Pa and Hoss and they have no idea there's a couple of rattlers in their midst planning to kill them!"

* * *

It was several hours later that a wagon pulled out of the ranch. Adam knew his stubborn youngest brother would follow through on his threat if he did not find a way to compromise with him. The idea of Joe slipping off in the night on Sport forced him to make a choice he did not want to. Joe was barely able to stand for any length of time, let alone ride a horse for the two days it would take them to return home.

He scanned the horizon as they traveled, acutely aware that the wagon kicked up far more dust and made them more visible than a couple of horses would. Stacey had insisted on accompanying them when she had offered the wagon as a compromise to Joe. Adam glanced across at the young woman who confidently held the reins and guided the wagon along familiar roads. He would never be able to repay her for saving his kid brother and yet he felt a measure of concern at her presence with them. He had managed to convince her that she would wait with Joe in Virginia City while he rode out to the Ponderosa and while Joe had not been informed of that plan, she had agreed.

Adam almost smiled as he looked to the other side of the wagon and saw Harry riding shotgun on the other side. The young sheriff was almost as stubborn as his brother and had refused to allow Stacey to go anywhere without him. He didn't know if the lawman was operating on his instincts and sensed trouble or if he was simply being a protective older brother. Either way, Adam found himself drawn to the young man, having recognised much of himself in the other man.

"You doing alright?" Adam drew alongside Joe and watched as his brother plastered on a neutral face. He'd been a fraction too slow to hide the pain that had been there only moments before.

"Just fine. We gotta get home."

Adam nodded and continued to keep pace alongside Joe. Only a short time before, he had been cursing his brother and how he had so deeply wounded their father. He felt a nagging twinge of guilt as he considered his brother would keep going until he dropped to save his family.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you once again for lovely comments and messages. I hope I'm keeping you going with this next chapter.

 **Chapter Eight**

Adam pulled in alongside the wagon and pointed a little farther up the road. "There's a spot up there we can make camp for the night. Plenty of room for the wagon and feed for the horses to graze."

"There's still daylight left! We need to keep going." Joe glared at his brother while pointing towards where the sun was dropping in the sky. "At least another hour, Adam."

Knowing this fight was coming, Adam had already anticipated his arguments. Joe was clearly wilting in the seat and anybody with eyes could see he needed to stop and rest.

"We need to rest, Joe. All of us!" He held up a hand as if to ward off the inevitable objection, but it didn't work.

"We need to get home as quickly as possible! Pa … and Hoss. Don't let them …" Joe's breathing had quickened as he continued and suddenly he ran out of breath.

Adam had already dismounted from his horse in the small clearing he'd selected and he braced himself for the stubbornness of his youngest brother. As Stacey pulled the wagon in behind him, he could see Joe winding up to continue arguing with him. As if the intensity of his emotions combined with his fatigue to suddenly overwhelm him, Joe fell forward on the bench seat and clutched at his head. A groan of pain escaped through gritted teeth and Adam scrambled up beside him in an instant.

"Easy there. Slow breaths, remember?"

Harry had appeared from behind him and between the two of them they lifted Joe down onto the ground before he fell out of the wagon. His legs crumpled beneath him and Adam easily caught his weight as he fell. Joe was barely aware of his surroundings until he felt his body connect with solid ground and he closed his eyes against the blinding flashes of light that threatened to rip his head in two.

Stacey had already found a canteen of water and she pulled a cloth from the back of the wagon and dribbled water onto it. Adam still had a hand under Joe's head and he nodded as she began to wipe the sweat from his brother's face. Joe groaned again and tried to force his eyes open.

"You win," he whispered at his brother's hazy image.

"I'd rather lose this one, Joe." Adam tried to smile at his brother's attempted joke and almost grinned as Joe laughed softly at him.

"Can I have that in writing?"

"Sure."

As Adam kept his brother resting where he had been laid down, Stacey and Harry began to pull supplies from the wagon and prepare supper. It would be almost another hour before Joe pulled himself upright and forced himself to pick at the plate that Adam brought him. His head still ached, but the blinding bolts of lightning had retreated and his stomach managed to keep hold of the stew he'd eaten. He was barely aware as Adam pulled a bedroll behind him and nudged him backwards.

"Get some sleep. You'll feel better in the morning."

When Joe didn't answer, Adam leaned down to check on him. The exhausted lines on his face softened as Joe's body quickly relaxed into sleep and Adam pulled the blanket over him.

"I'm sorry, Joe. We shouldn't have left yet." The comment was meant only for himself, but Stacey crouched down beside him and shook her head.

"Like he gave you any kind of choice."

Adam watched as she checked over his brother and he couldn't contain a smile as he saw the tenderness in her hands. He'd always said that Joe could charm the boots off anybody, and it seemed that he had yet another admirer of the female variety.

"I suppose not." Suddenly the smile slid away as he reflected on the last few hours. "How often does he get sick like that?"

Stacey leaned back on her heels and chewed on her lip. It bothered her that even though Joe was healing in other ways, there was still something clearly wrong with him. "At first, it was almost every day after he woke up. Once he was well enough to get up and move around, it eased a bit. Now it's mostly just if he gets worked up trying to remember something or he's pushing himself too hard."

"That doesn't really explain what happened earlier."

"He was getting worked up … just for a different reason."

Adam felt a gentle hand on his arm and he looked up to see Stacey watching him. He knew he'd caused Joe's distress and he shook his head in frustration.

"I think we all need some sleep," was the best he could manage as he pulled his own bedroll towards him. Stacey took the abrupt dismissal for what it was and stood up to head towards the fire where Harry had already laid out her own bedding.

"Sleep well."

Adam pulled the blanket up towards his chest as he rolled onto his side. Joe was less than a foot away from him and he stared at his brother's profile in the flickering light from the fire. Long after the fire had burned down to little more than coals, he continued to stand watch, as if something was going to come in the dark and take Joe away. He tried to push the irrational fear aside, but could not make himself succumb to sleep.

* * *

As the miles rolled by too slowly, Glen once again found himself second-guessing his decisions. He'd been tempted to swap horses before leaving the ranch, but he'd ridden out on his father's old horse instead of the newer one he'd been breaking with Hoss. He knew the black mare could cover more ground in less time, but he wasn't convinced the new horse was settled enough for him to risk taking her. He'd barely gotten her saddlebroke and didn't think he could manage her if she played up on him. It could prove costly if he couldn't rein her in and keep her on track so in the end he'd left on old Betsy. He found himself once again thinking of how Joe had considered her a good horse in spite of her age and he smiled to himself.

 _I wonder what he'll say when he sees us?_

 _Will he believe me?_

Anxious thoughts swirled around in his head as he recalled the tempestuous young man who had stormed off the ranch so many weeks ago. At times, he found it difficult to reconcile the fact that Joe was Hoss's brother as they seemed to be cut from such different cloth. Then again, Adam was another breed entirely. As Glen pushed on through the darkness and prayed he was on the right road, he found himself tossing around various thoughts about the family he had come to work for. The nagging doubt that he had just thrown away his future with them was squashed down and he tried to ignore it.

The moon was beginning to dip towards the horizon and he struggled to keep his eyes open and focused on the road ahead. He had debated stopping for a few hours of sleep, but knew he needed to push on. Betsy might be a good horse, but he knew only too well that a faster, younger one could overtake him if one happened to be chasing him down. He shivered involuntarily as he thought again of waking up with Nate leaning over his bunk and he rubbed at his arms as he rode along. The man's eyes betrayed his less than stable state of mind and the glint of a knife had been far too close for comfort.

As the first rays of sunlight streaked across the sky, he pulled a wrapped package out of his saddlebag and began to gnaw on a piece of beef jerky. The toughened meat caught in his throat and he wished he had had more time to gather supplies, but there was no way to do so without arousing suspicions. He took a long swig from his canteen and turned his face towards the rising sun. There was always something comforting about the early morning and he smiled a little as he pushed his horse onwards.

* * *

Adam pushed himself up onto one elbow and tried to rub the grit from his eyes. The faintest hint of morning made everything look washed out and he wondered if he had dreamed the noise that awoke him. As he tried to drop back to sleep, he heard the noise again. In a heartbeat, he was out of his tangled bedroll and reaching for his brother's arm. Joe fought off his touch and muttered something under his breath. Adam leaned back and watched as Joe wrestled against something in his sleep. His brother's features contorted as he muttered again and Adam debated waking him up. Before he could decide what to do, Joe pushed upright and ripped at the blanket that entangled him. His breath was coming in frantic bursts and sweat slicked his hair to his scalp. As Adam tried to reach him, he wrenched the blanket free and barely contained a strangled cry.

"Joe." Adam held out a hand as his brother looked like a rabbit staring down a coyote. "Easy, Joe."

Joe stared at him as if he were some kind of mirage that could melt away if he looked away.

"He was here."

"There's nobody here, Joe. Just us."

Joe sucked in his bottom lip and tried to control his breathing. Adam was only an arms length away and he ached to reach out and grab hold of his brother's arm. Instead, he forced himself to focus and push the fear aside.

"He didn't shoot me."

Adam mistook the comment for Joe recognising he'd been dreaming and he nodded. "It was just a nightmare. There was nobody here, Joe."

He frowned as Joe began to shake his head. "No! He didn't shoot me. He … he had a knife."

Adam leaned forward as the colour drained out of his brother's face and he reached out to grab hold of him before he fell. Joe sagged against him and Adam could feel his heart racing as he pulled his brother closer.

"Who had a knife?" He already had a fair idea, but needed Joe to confirm it for him. What came out was not quite what he was expecting.

"He enjoyed it. It wasn't just to force a point. He … Adam's there's something really wrong with Nate."

"What are you talking about, Joe?"

Joe flinched as he tried to explain. "My shoulder. He didn't shoot me." The newly recovered memory of Nate kneeling on top of his pinned arms and laughing like some kind of demented coyote as he gouged the knife into his shoulder and twisted it almost had Joe crawling backwards again. Adam tightened his grip around him and waited for further explanation. When it didn't come, he tried again.

"Joe, are you telling me that hole in your shoulder was a knife wound?"

When Joe simply nodded at him, he could feel his anger rising.

"He enjoyed it." The sickening thought didn't get any further as Stacey appeared beside them. Adam wasn't sure how much she had heard, but he had no plan to repeat Joe's revelation to her.

"We have to get moving, Adam! Pa and Hoss. We can't … we have to …"

"It's alright, Joe. We'll be moving as soon as we can. Trail tack will do and we'll be home before dark. I promise."

Joe nodded and tugged at the blanket that still wrapped itself around his legs. He pulled on his hat and checked his gun while Adam explained to Stacey and Harry why there was no time for coffee and bacon. He nudged dirt over the fire and turned back to hustle supplies back onto the wagon. Joe forced down the sense of panic that tried to claw its way up his chest and he focused on hurrying out of camp instead. He would not give voice to the fear that gripped him and he tried desperately to force aside the image of Nate's face laughing at him as he screamed. For the briefest of moments he had thought it was just a nightmare, but each moment since he had awoken had driven it deeper that it was no fleeting dream. Nate had deliberately tortured him and enjoyed it. When Adam came up unexpectedly behind him, he almost took a swing at his brother. He pulled the punch at the last moment and looked chagrined at what he had almost done.

"Sorry. Didn't hear you."

"It's okay. Let's get out of here." Joe allowed his brother to give him a helping hand to climb aboard the wagon and that, more than anything, showed Adam just how fragile his brother still was. Normally Joe would have blustered and argued, but his silent compliance was very telling. Adam pulled himself into the saddle and swung out towards the road again.

It would be almost two hours before a dust cloud ahead of them declared someone was coming their way. Adam had his rifle resting across his saddle horn as he rode onwards and he nodded as he noted that Harry had done the same. Joe had his revolver in his hand and all three of them felt the tension in the air as they rode on. Whoever it was would not come upon them unawares.

As Glen climbed to the top of the small ridge, he could make out a traveling group in the distance. A wagon and two horses were moving at speed towards him and he felt a lump of doubt form in his throat. He was alone and seriously outgunned if anything went wrong. He pulled his hat down and urged his horse forward and prayed that the strangers approaching him were not looking for any trouble. It would be another ten minutes before he drew close enough to make out any of them and even then, he wasn't sure it wasn't exhaustion making him see things. He pushed his horse forward, knowing she was tired and could not contain a grin as he heard Adam's shout of greeting. The stranger off to the right of the wagon still had a rifle pointed his way and he pulled up and waited. Adam waved the man down and when he was sure it was safe to approach, Glen stopped alongside him. He nodded towards Joe in the front of the wagon and almost laughed with relief.

"Well I'm glad the rumour ain't true."

"What rumour?"

"The one I heard about your brother's untimely death."

"Let me guess … Nate told you that?" Joe snarled the name as he looked towards the two men in front of him. He could feel Stacey's calming hand on his arm, but it wasn't working.

"Well, not in so many words, but he did imply that if I tried to get in his way, I'd wear the blame for it." The quiet anger in the words carried across to all of them and Joe frowned at him.

"Why would he be after you? His plan was to destroy me and my family by driving us apart."

Adam stared at his brother as it was the first inkling Joe had given of why things had gone so awry.

"No idea, but I'm sure glad to see you are alright, Joe. I really wasn't sure what I was gonna find in Silver Falls."

"Where is Nate now? And Mac!"

"Well they're still at the Ponderosa, but your pa should know about them by now."

"Should?" Adam shifted in the saddle and glanced over to where Harry was sitting astride his own horse. "We sent Roy Coffee a wire. He was supposed to warn Pa and Hoss days ago."

"I don't know anything about that. The sheriff and me talked about them and he said he wouldn't say nothing to your pa until he was sure. Didn't want to cause him any more grief until he was sure that …" Glen swallowed hard and stared at the young man in front of him who was very much alive. "Til he was sure that Joe really was dead and I didn't imagine it. I left your pa and Hoss a letter to warn them. They will have caught up with the sheriff by now, I know it!"

"How did you get mixed up in everything? Why'd you think I was dead?" Joe couldn't help the suspicion that crawled up his spine, knowing there were still gaps in his memories. Had Glen really ridden after him to warn him or had he simply come to finish what others had started? He stared back at the young hand who had befriended his guileless brother and prayed that Hoss hadn't been duped.

"It's a bit of a saga. Do you mind if I give ol' Betsy a rest while I fill you in? She's been on the road since yesterday so's I could get to you as fast as possible."

Joe took his first look at the old mare and frowned to see she was looking like she could soon pull up lame. He nodded as Glen slipped down from his horse and watched as he led her over to a patch of grass and reached for his canteen. He took a swig himself and then poured the rest into his upturned hat. Joe almost smiled as he'd done the same for Cochise many times. Of course Cooch preferred coffee, but he was rationed to no more than a mugful at a time. The familiar memory dredged up an unexpected ache in his chest.

"Is Cochise alright?" The sudden change of conversation wasn't really surprising to Adam, but Glen smiled enthusiastically.

"All fine! That leg healed right up once Hoss got to work on it."

Joe pulled a tight-lipped smile and nodded in relief. He had feared that his negligence could have cost his horse's life and he climbed down from the wagon to inspect Glen's horse. Stacey decided that they weren't going anywhere any time soon and suggested that Harry start a fire to brew them the coffee they had missed out on earlier. He was off looking for kindling and she was reaching into the back of the wagon, searching for the coffee pot when a hand clamped down over her mouth. She tried to scream and felt another hand snake around her waist and pull her backwards.


	9. Chapter 9

Well this story seems to have grown legs and taken off on me. It's not the first time a story has outgrown my original plan and a part of that is always spurred by reader interaction. Thank you so much for your reviews. To the guest reviewers that I can't reply to personally, I thank you too.

 **Chapter Nine**

"Stace? When's that pot comin'?' Harry had a small fire going and was looking around, wondering where Stacey had gotten to. He knew they had water in the canteens and she only needed to get the coffee pot, so he wasn't sure what was taking so long. As he stood up and glanced around, he couldn't see her anywhere. A faint smile slid across his face and he wondered if she had simply gone off into the treeline for some privacy. It wouldn't be the first time she had caused him to panic when he couldn't find her and he grinned as he remembered the indignant slap she had delivered the last time he'd chased after her. A girl needs her quiet space, unlike you fellas, she'd tossed back at him. He pushed his hat back and looked up into the sky. The sun was already climbing into the sky and they needed to get moving soon, but he wouldn't object to a mug of strong coffee first. He figured that his sister-in-law wasn't coming back any time soon and he wandered over to the wagon to get the coffee pot for himself. When he found it lying on the tail board of the wagon and a clear sign of a struggle with things strewn across the ground, he began shouting and ran for the trees.

"Stacey! Where are you?"

Glen was done watering his horse and he stood by her head, giving the back of her ears a long overdue scratching. He heard shouting from behind him and turned around to see Harry disappearing into the trees. He stopped to quickly ground tie Betsy before chasing after the man. He was half way across the clearing when he heard more shouts.

"Stacey! Answer me dammit!"

Adam tried telling Joe to stay put, but knew he was wasting his breath. He could sense his brother close behind him as he ran towards the sound of Harry's frantic shouts. He pushed forward into the thick treeline and listened for anything that would indicate where to go next. He could hear Glen off to his left and he suddenly became aware that Joe was not behind him anymore. He stopped and waited, expecting him to come out from behind the nearest trees. A sense of unease crawled up his spine as he could hear Harry's shouts moving away from him. For a split second, he wavered on which way to go before he headed back towards where his brother should be. As he emerged from the treeline, he pulled up short. Across the small clearing Joe was frozen with his hands raised out from his sides. His holster was empty and his revolver lay in the dirt, far out of his reach. Two men stood on the other side of him and he could see one of them had Stacey in a tight choke hold. He quickly figured that whoever it was must have doubled back around them and come out on the far side of their camp if Harry was searching in the wrong place.

"Hold it right there, Cartwright!" Adam heard Nate's voice carry across the clearing and he briefly wondered which one of them he was talking to. The moment passed quickly as Mac began moving towards him with a shotgun pointed at his chest. "Do anything stupid and your brother's gonna have a great big ol' hole in his head."

Mac laughed at his brother's comment and waved the shotgun towards Joe. Adam could see the tense set of his brother's shoulders and could see Joe was shaking. Whether from anger or another headache he couldn't tell. Either way, he couldn't risk upsetting either of them.

"Toss me that gun o' yours. And get over here where I can see ya!" Mac pointed the shotgun back towards Adam and then pointed the muzzle in the general vicinity of where he wanted him. As Adam slowly complied, he took a sideways glance at Joe and didn't like what he saw. Beads of sweat dribbled down the side of his face and his posture was all wrong. Stacey seemed to have stopped breathing as a knife blade rested against the hollow of her neck and a thin dribble of blood trailed down onto her bodice.

"Let her go! She's done nothing to you." Joe edged closer and Nate pulled Stacey's arm further up behind her until she choked out a gasp of pain.

"Stay right there, Cartwright. You move again and I'll slit her throat. You know I will." The sick grin that accompanied the threat brought a flood of ugly memories with it and Joe barely choked down a retort.

"What do you want?"

Nate looked across at Mac and both men laughed.

"Oh, I've almost got everything that I want from you."

"And what exactly is that?" Adam tried to deflect the look that Nate had thrown his brother's way. It made his skin crawl and he could see why Joe had declared him to be crazy. Something in his eyes had Adam unnerved too.

"I just need to finish the job we started. You're s'posed to be dead." Nate stared at Joe with naked hatred written across his face.

"Sorry to disappoint you!" Joe spat back at him. "You came for me and you've got me, so let her go!" He could see Stacey's tense stance and was madly scrambling for an idea of how to get her free. Nate's knife was far too close for him to move yet. Before Nate could answer, the sound of movement behind them had Mac on alert and he fired a shot into the thick trees.

"Come outta there with your hands up and your guns where I can see 'em or this little lady's gonna bleed out real quick!"

Joe didn't turn to look, but knew that both Harry and Glen were behind him and complying with the demand. He could hear their heavy breathing from running and Harry's muttered curses. He didn't dare to turn around and look.

"You! Get that rope off your saddle and tie those two up."

Mac nodded towards Adam and waved his shotgun at him as if to emphasize Nate's point. Adam swallowed down any argument and slowly moved towards his horse, making sure he didn't do anything to startle either of the men.

"And do a proper job of it. If either of them escape, Mac there will put a bullet in their heads."

Nate laughed as he watched Adam silently comply with his demands. Harry glared at him, but kept his mouth shut as Adam wound the rope tightly around his wrists. Glen looked scared at what was coming, but also kept quiet. Adam straightened up and waited for the next lot of instructions while desperately trying to find something to hang a plan on. Joe's face was almost white and he could see he was struggling to stay still.

"Now toss their guns this way." Adam pulled Harry's gun from his holster and tossed it towards Nate before turning back for Glen's.

Joe tried to keep eye contact with Stacey and he felt rage coursing through him as he watched blood trickle down her neck. He could feel himself trembling with anger and black spots danced in front of him. He blinked and tried to force them away, but they persisted in tormenting him. He tried controlling his breathing, but it wasn't working.

"Let her go." Joe's voice wasn't as firm as it had been, but the determination was still clear. "You said you wanted me. I'm right here!" He raised his arms in surrender and took a tentative step closer.

Adam held his breath as Joe played a dangerous game, but the next comment rooted him to the spot.

"Maybe I'll take out your brother first. That seemed to cause you a world of hurt last time." Nate laughed and Mac grinned at him as he waved his shotgun towards Adam.

"Maybe I should shoot him again!" The two men broke into peals of laughter and Stacey felt the knife sliding against her throat again. She pulled back as far as she could, but only found herself pressed closer to Nate.

"You screamed real good that day, Cartwright."

Joe felt his guts churning as he recalled seeing Adam, or the man he thought was Adam, falling from his saddle and not getting up again. "I thought you had murdered my brother!"

"We hired ourselves a real good actor. You sure did make me laugh when you were screamin' at a total stranger and tryin' to save him from us." Mac grinned at him and Adam chilled to the core as the man stepped towards him. "This time I've got the real McCoy. I got me a genuine Cartwright in my sights." He lifted the shotgun and aimed it straight at Adam's chest.

"Why?" Joe was barely breathing as he asked the question and Adam looked alarmed as he could see his brother's unsteady stance.

Nate's face suddenly hardened as he watched Joe stumble forward and drop to his knees. He pulled the knife from Stacey's throat and waved it towards Joe instead.

"Get up!"

Adam stepped towards Joe without thinking and reached a hand out to him. "He's sick! Can't you see that?"

"Get back or I'll put a bullet in you!" Mac rushed forward and had the shotgun pointed once again at Adam's head, forcing him to step backwards.

Joe fell sideways and planted his hand in the dirt as he tried to hold his head upright. "Why? What do you want from us?"

"Why? Because your family deserves to suffer like mine did. Your father knows why!" Nate spat in the dirt as he glared at both brothers. Mac turned his attention towards his own brother and growled in agreement.

"Sure does!"

For a moment, Nate seemed to have forgotten he held a hostage in his grasp and Stacey took advantage of the lapse in concentration. She caught Adam's eye and he could see she was about to move. He wanted to stop her, but could do nothing without giving her away. Instead, he tensed, ready to move when she did.

Without warning, Stacey drove an elbow into Nate's ribs and he grunted in pain as she kicked out at his shins. Adam surged forward to snatch at Mac's shotgun and as the two of them wrestled with it, the gun fired harmlessly into the dirt. Adam lost his grip and he pushed sideways before trying to turn back around. As Mac swung at him with both hands clenched around the barrel of the shotgun, Adam barely sidestepped in time and he stumbled over something on the ground. Mac took another wild swing and Adam lifted an arm to defend his head. The shotgun came down on him with a sickening thud and he heard the bone in his arm crack as pain coursed its way up through his shoulder. He could hear voices shouting, but his mind could not register the words.

Suddenly he saw Glen behind Mac and he was reaching for the nearest gun with the toe of his boot. His hands were still bound and he could only grasp at the gun and flick it in Adam's direction. He felt a fleeting sense of surreal detachment as he considered that Joe would be impressed with his left-handed catch and subsequent shot. As Mac toppled into the dirt in front of him, he felt himself slipping sideways. The pain throbbing up his arm stole his breath and he slumped against Glen as the young hand reached for him.

As Nate momentarily released his grip on his victim, Joe pushed himself up onto his haunches and launched himself at Nate's legs. The two of them sprawled into the dirt and he struggled to keep a hold as Nate kicked out at him. His head was reeling as blinding flashes of light mingled with clouds of dust and he could barely make out anything. A desperate need drove him to hold on when his fingers seemed to lose their strength and he felt himself being flipped like some kind of fish on one of Hoss's lines. Darkness was pulling at the edges of his vision and he could hear shouting from somewhere behind him. He heard a shrill scream cut through the air, but before he could respond, he felt something rip across his back. Another scream tore into him and he barely had time to wonder where it was coming from before the darkness claimed him.

Harry lifted his foot and kicked out with all he could muster. The blunt heel of his boot connected with Nate's head and he watched as the man rolled backwards into the dirt. He almost lost his balance with his hands still bound in front of him, but he aimed another vicious kick at the man's chest.

"Stace! You okay?"

He kept his eyes locked on Nate, while waiting to hear her voice.

"I'm alright, but Joe isn't."

He could hear the quaver in her voice and he risked a quick look to see what was causing it. Joe lay sprawled in the dirt with a trail of crimson blood spreading across his back.

"Stace, get this rope off me." He held out his hands and waited impatiently as she tugged at the knots. Her face was flushed and he growled as he saw the dried blood that trailed down her neck. "I'll kill him!"

"Harry, you're a lawman, you need to …"

"I don't care!" As he yanked the rope free of his wrists, he grasped at her hands and spun her towards him before enveloping her into his arms. She could feel the wild hammering of his heart as he held onto her. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm sure." She pushed back from him and nodded as she hurried to kneel beside Joe. He wasn't moving and she hesitated to reach out towards him. As Harry dropped down beside her, she swallowed down the lump in her throat and almost giggled with relief as Joe groaned before trying to push himself upright. When his arms gave out and he fell into the dirt again, she reached for his face and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"Joe!" Adam shouted in alarm as he could see his brother struggling to get up. "Joe!" He tried to pull himself to his feet and felt Glen's arm around his waist as he felt the ground moving beneath him.

* * *

The sound of shots echoed across the still morning air and Ben kicked his heels into Buck's flanks. He could hear Hoss's horse beside him and knew that Hank wasn't far behind. The rational part of his mind told him that anybody could be out on the road, but the part that had been screaming at him since leaving the Ponderosa told him that two men had just caught up with his youngest ranch hand. Never in his wildest nightmares did he expect what he found when he climbed the ridge and galloped down the other side.


	10. Chapter 10

I found myself writing the next chapter before I even finished this one as this story is being very impatient and demanding to be finished. Thank you for keeping me going with feedback and reviews. I probably need to catch up on some real work soon. Maybe!

 **Chapter Ten**

Hoss reined his horse in and threw himself out of the saddle before the horse had even stopped moving. He pranced sideways as if he could feel his rider's pent up tension, but Hoss ignored him. He could hear Adam shouting Joe's name and he struggled to take in the whole scene before them. Two bodies lay in the dirt and by the time he got there, Adam was kneeling on the ground beside another one that he assumed was Joe. He choked back that thought as he wondered if he was still even alive or not. Given the amount of fresh blood that covered his brother's back, he wasn't entirely confident of anything.

"Joseph!" Ben was already kneeling on the ground beside his youngest son, his hands hovering in the air, uncertain of where to grasp hold of him without hurting him any further. "Joe, can you hear me, Son?"

Stacey watched as the stranger ran a hand down the side of Joe's face and she almost sobbed when he groaned in response.

"It's a knife wound, Pa. We gotta stop the bleeding." Adam automatically reached a hand out towards his brother and gasped as the pain shot up his arm. The adrenaline was subsiding and the rawness of the pain was beginning to increase as he moved. Hoss noted his brother's sudden change of posture and he hunkered down beside him.

"Let me help, Adam. You take care o' that arm and I'll take care o' Little Joe."

Stacey was hovering behind them, having moved aside from Joe when Ben had almost elbowed her out of the way. "Let me check your arm, Adam."

He looked up at her and saw his own need reflected in her eyes. She needed to do something and so did he. The fact that neither of them could help in the way they most wanted to was not lost on either of them. He nodded and tried to stand up, but felt himself swaying. Hands grasped at him from behind and he turned to see Harry hoisting him upright and steering him towards a log. As he sat down, his eyes stayed locked on Joe and his father's running conversation with his brother. The one-sided comments were not fooling anybody.

Hoss grasped at the tail of Joe's shirt and ripped it in half, exposing the ragged wound that ran diagonally across his back up to his shoulder blade. Drying blood had already encrusted to the fabric and the movement brought forth fresh blood from underneath. Hoss whistled as he examined the mess and he felt a sense of frustration rising up within him. They were too late to prevent whoever had attacked his brothers from doing so and he forced himself to focus on what could be done to save Joe from bleeding out. A silver-handled knife lay in the dirt and Glen almost gagged as he picked it up to remove it from their sight. He felt a tremor run through his body as he recalled waking to see that same knife waving in his own face. He slowly moved away towards where Adam was sitting and watched as Hank checked over the two bodies still lying motionless in the dirt. His heart was in his mouth as he half expected them both to get up and start shooting again.

Joe groaned again as his father poured water onto his bandana and began wiping gently at the wound. Hoss grasped hold of his brother's shoulders as he began to writhe and he leaned down to try to calm him.

"Easy, Joe. Pa's just cleanin' up this here mess so's we can see what's goin' on in there. You know he's gotta do it." He looked up at his father and could see his own concern staring back at him. They didn't have anything better to clean the wound with and it was deep enough to cause alarm.

"Pa?"

Ben stopped and leaned down, not daring to hope he'd heard right. When Joe tried again, he almost sobbed in relief.

"It's alright, Son. I'm right here. You're gonna be all right, Joe. All right." The words sounded hollow to his own ears, but he prayed that Joe would take them to heart.

"Pa … f'give me."

At that, Ben felt his voice give out and he reached to rest the back of his hand against his son's cheek. Blood streaked his fingers and he curled them away from Joe's face.

"There's nothing to forgive, Son. Now you just take it easy." He went back to cleaning the wound and prayed that he would have time to continue the conversation and finish it, once and for all. His heart had ached at his son's cruel words and yet he could not recall a single one of them as he watched him struggle to stay conscious.

Stacey stayed kneeling as she finished binding a makeshift splint around Adam's arm and she stared at her hands, unable to make them stop shaking. She felt a hand on the side of her cheek and looked up to see him watching her intently.

"Thank you." It was for so much more than the splint and Adam found himself stuck for the words, but she seemed to know anyway. He stood up unsteadily and pulled her to her feet as well. Without thinking, she reached an arm around his waist and together they moved over to where Joe was still lying where he had fallen.

"Pa?" Adam held his breath as his father glanced up at him.

"We need to get him to a doctor."

His father's understated comment did nothing to relieve the fear churning in his gut. Only a few short minutes before, he had believed that Joe could be beyond needing anything and he tried to latch onto hope instead. He felt Stacey lean into his side and he looked down to see tears trickling down her face. She chewed on her bottom lip and in that moment, he thought she looked no more than fifteen. A scared young woman who had been through a trauma, just because she had chosen to help his brother. He squeezed his good arm tighter around her and almost smiled as he looked at her again. Joe had a very good reason to pull himself back out of the dark hole he'd fallen into if her expression was anything to go by.

Hank and Harry seemed deep in conversation and Adam wished he could join them, but he would not leave his family. He could see that Hank had bound Nate's hands and yet Mac was still lying where he'd fallen. That told him all he needed to know and he felt a sense of satisfaction that his bullet had found its mark. He would not have considered himself a man of vengeance, but he did think of himself as a man of justice. He glared across the small grassy area as Nate finally began to stir. If true justice had been served, he'd be dead too. Adam found himself swallowing down a lump of rage and he looked away as Harry took over dealing with his prisoner. For the moment, Adam was content to leave him to someone else to deal with because he didn't trust himself to keep to his usual reputation of being a rational man. There was nothing even remotely rational in the events of the last few days.

It would be over an hour later that the group finally moved out and began the slow trek back towards Virginia City. Joe had been carefully laid out across a pile of bedroll blankets in the back of the wagon and Adam was wedged in beside him. He had barely reacted as he was jostled across from the ground and Adam was keenly watching every rising and falling breath. A makeshift bandage had slowed the bleeding, but red stains marked most of the length of it already. Stacey sat in the front of the wagon with Hoss while Glen rode alongside on Hoss's horse. Betsy had been tied to a lead rope along with Adam's horse and Ben trailed beside the wagon with both horses in tow. Harry and Hank had their prisoner trussed up like a Christmas turkey with a gag wedged tightly in his mouth. Nobody was interested in hearing the venomous threats he had been spitting out earlier. He rode along tied onto the back of his horse and was forced to watch his brother's body bounce along beside him, having been unceremoniously tied to his own saddle and covered with a blanket. To say Nate's face was murderous was an understatement. Adam was under no illusion if the man ever got loose, he would hunt down and destroy every single one of them without mercy. His gut churned as he considered the question Joe had asked several times and not really gotten a satisfactory answer for.

Why?

He looked across again to where his brother was possibly slowly bleeding to death and he reached out a hand to rest it on his shoulder. He thought it was ironic really as it was Joe who always craved the touch of others and would reach out for physical connection, but at that moment, Adam needed to feel life in his brother. He needed to feel warmth and movement as he breathed. He needed to know he had not been too late in chasing after Joe when his suspicions had been raised that all was not right.

"I'm sorry." The whispered words choked in his throat and he prayed he would get a chance to say it again when Joe could actually hear him. He'd heard his brother's plea for forgiveness and his father's calm declaration that he loved his son. It was never said in so many words, but it was a given. He recalled Joe's agonized expression when he'd talked of his fear that his father must hate him. Adam stared at him as he knew that would be the worst punishment his brother could ever take; to think he had lost his father's love and respect. He hung his head as he reflected on his own behaviour in recent weeks. He'd been so angry that he'd failed to read things correctly and he'd condemned his brother without ever hearing the truth from him. He was complicit in driving Joe away and if he died then Adam knew he could never forgive himself for failing him so badly.

As is sensing his thoughts, Ben called his name and Adam looked up to see his father watching him intently.

"Don't do it to yourself, Adam."

"Pa?"

"All the what-ifs that are going through your head."

Adam mustered a small smile as he looked back at the man who sometimes seemed to know everything.

"How do you know what I'm thinking, Pa?"

"Because they are going through my head too, Son." The pain in his father's confession was almost his undoing.

"Let's get Joe home first and we'll deal with everything else later."

"Sure, Pa." The words weren't exactly spoken with conviction, but Ben took them on face value. He knew his eldest son would brood for some time yet and each of them still had some demons to face, but he would not be sidetracked until he was sure Joe was going to survive. Nothing else mattered.

The sun was dropping low in the sky as the group came to a fork in the road. One road led to Virginia City and the other towards the Ponderosa. Ben had wrestled with the plan as they approached and he could not bring himself to go anywhere but home. He knew there could be a delay in getting the doctor, but he also knew his son's aversion to the doctor's office in town. Joe needed to be home when he woke up. As the wagon turned off and continued along the well-traveled road towards the ranch, Ben could not help but stare after the riders who continued on towards Virginia City. Nate had fixed him with a look that could only be described as evil before Hank had pulled at the horse's lead rope and taken him on to the sheriff's office. Glen had long since disappeared down the same road as he had ridden off to find Paul and bring him back to the ranch. Ben prayed the man would be there waiting for them when they arrived.

* * *

Roy had barely been back from Carson City for an hour before he was making plans to ride out again. When he walked into his office and found it empty, he had wandered over to the saloon in hopes of finding where his deputy may be. It wasn't like Walt was a regular deputy, but he'd filled in a few times when Roy knew he'd be gone for any length of time. The man was honest, level-headed and respected reasonably well by the citizens of Virginia City, but as Roy was just remembering, not always the best at reading situations. The wire that sat in his drawer had gone unanswered and Roy kicked himself to realise that Ben had never received the warning he should have. The fact the sheriff from Silver Falls had been a little oblique in his wire and not spelled out the details was not Walt's fault. If he'd been expecting the town's sheriff to receive it, he didn't need to go into all the details. It still didn't stop Roy from feeling that he'd failed one of his oldest friends when he was needed the most.

He was barely into the saddle and heading for the edges of town when he saw a horse and rider barreling down towards him. He would have sworn it was Hoss's horse, but it was clear the much smaller rider was not Hoss Cartwright. He watched as the rider pulled the big horse into the railing near Paul's office and flung himself to the ground before racing into the doctor's office. He knew something was wrong even before he made it to the door, but as the young Ponderosa hand he now recognised came racing back out towards his horse, the look on his face confirmed it.

"Glen? What's going on, son?"

"Do you know where the doc is? We need him, now!"

"He's up at the Carmody house. Little Flossie took a tumble off the stairs this afternoon. He was heading that way probably twenty minutes ago to check on her again."

"Where is that?" Glen's distress was rising as he tried to recall what little he knew of the local townsfolk.

"That way, up the second block behind the saloon. What's the hurry, son?"

"It's Joe. I think he might be dying."

Roy stared at the young man who was making no sense. Unless of course Joe had come home in the few days he'd been away.

"Joe Cartwright?"

"Yes, sir! Mister Cartwright's takin' him home and I gotta get the doc. The sheriff's bringin' in the others, but I gotta find Doc Martin. Joe's in trouble."

"This way!" Roy turned his horse for the Carmody's and just assumed that Glen would follow him. "Now you better start talkin' young fella and tell me just exactly what's been going on while I've been outta town."


	11. Chapter 11

I hope you enjoy a longer chapter as this one just did not want to quit and I had to chop it somewhere. Thank you so much for your ongoing comments and reviews. You make my day :-)

 **Chapter Eleven**

Stacey held herself upright and stared at the miles of dirt ahead of them. Beside her, Joe's brother hadn't seemed inclined to conversation and she had struggled for anything much to say to him as the road had rolled along beneath them. Each of them was lost in their worries as the day dragged on and every so often she would turn and glance over her shoulder. Adam was wedged up against Joe and she could see the tense set of his shoulders and the deep worry etched across his face. Joe had barely responded to anything after being placed in the wagon and she found herself trying not to dwell on what that may mean. Her emotions swung back and forth, almost in time with the wagon's swaying motion. The days back on her ranch had been intense and she had been terrified that her patient would die before she even got to know his name. The need to save him had driven her for days and it was only once she was stuck in the wagon, with nothing but her thoughts that she began to wonder why. The answer scared her and she shied away from it.

As Luke lay dying, she had wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled his head onto her lap. He had smiled at her one last time and closed his eyes. She knew there was nothing she could do to save him, but the guilt had chewed into her dreams for a long time after.

What if?

What if she had been stronger and could lift him back onto his horse and get him to help? What if she had been more knowledgeable with doctoring and been able to remove the bullet and stop the bleeding? What if she had been able to get the truth out of Luke and gone to Harry in time before any of it happened? What if he wasn't trying to protect her and keeping secrets from her? What ifs had poisoned her thoughts and told her she had failed her husband. What ifs told her she deserved to be alone and lonely for the rest of her days. What ifs whispered ugly words into her very soul and she ran from them.

What if Joe died too?

The thought came at her from out of nowhere and Stacey shivered. Hoss looked across at her and frowned.

"You all right there, Miss Stacey?"

She didn't trust herself to speak and nodded instead. Her fears were nothing in comparison to Joe's family and she would not dare impose on them.

"Just a little cold."

"Well there ain't no blankets left, but you can have this, if it helps." Hoss was already shimmying out of his jacket as he shifted the reins from one hand to another and Stacey felt guilty at having lied to him. She smiled in appreciation and accepted the jacket as it was too hard to explain anything else. She soaked in the warmth from its previous occupant and tried to hold herself together.

"We'll be home in a bit. You'll be warm soon enough."

Stacey felt tears welling in her eyes and she looked away. What right did she have to take any of Joe's family's time or attention when she was the one who had caused his injuries? It may have been the stranger who had held the knife, but she had been the one who was stupid enough to get caught in the first place. She was the one Joe was trying to rescue when he was attacked. She recalled Adam's expression as he realised her reckless plan and she wished she had paid better attention. She found her fingers moving towards her throat involuntarily and she squeezed her eyes closed as she felt the blade there once again.

Joe had begged for her to be released and he'd even offered himself in her place. As Stacey felt tears beginning to dribble down her cheeks, she felt ashamed at her own weakness. If Joe died, it would be entirely her fault. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and she jumped at the touch.

"Sorry, didn't mean ta startle you. You okay there, Miss Stacey?"

Hoss was watching her intently and she felt her stomach churning. From what she'd seen of the man, his size belied a gentle nature and she felt sick at what he would do if he only knew the truth about her. His whole family would hate her.

"I'm fine, really. Just a little tired … and emotional, I suppose."

"Well, we'll be home soon enough and you can take some rest. And Hop Sing'll cook ya anythin' you like. Course he'll start right off making alla Joe's favourites … like his apple pie and maybe some beef roast and probably a big ol' fat chocolate cake."

Stacey had heard Joe talk of Hop Sing and she managed a small smile in response. The thought of food made her stomach churn, but she nodded as Hoss described the future feast awaiting his brother. Like the fatted calf being prepared for the returning son. It spoke of hope and she took it for what it was. Hoss was not ready to concede that Joe would not survive his ordeal.

* * *

By the time the group made its way into the yard, the house was lit up like a Christmas tree. Ben allowed himself a moment of relief when he saw Paul's buggy off to one side and he knew that Glen had made it through. Hop Sing came running from the house as if he had been listening for them. Of course, Ben knew that he had been and he began issuing instructions as men poured out of the bunkhouse. Adam reluctantly released his grasp on Joe and allowed himself to be helped off the back of the wagon. He shrugged off any further assistance and waited impatiently as Hoss and Ben began to lift Joe using the edges of the blanket he was laid on. Other hands reached out to help and Adam trailed along behind them. Nobody seemed to notice as Stacey hung back alongside the wagon, uncertain of what to do next. Harry was nowhere to be seen and she figured he was still in Virginia City dealing with the local sheriff and the men who had attacked them. She couldn't even see Glen anywhere and she suddenly felt very out of place. A couple of the men finally came back out of the house and noticed her hovering at the end of the wagon, rolling up bedroll blankets for want of something better to do.

"Ah … Miss? I'm guessing you'd be the Stacey that young Glen mentioned." When she nodded, he quickly continued. "The Boss'd have my hide if I leave ya out here in the cold. Why don't you go on in and wait where it's warmer?"

Stacey managed an awkward smile as she agreed to the idea. It felt surreal to be walking into a stranger's home and she balked at the doorway when she heard a scream of pain from upstairs. Nobody was in the room and she paced around, trying to push down the fear that seemed to want to choke her. The man who had escorted her inside pointed towards the sofa.

"Take a seat, miss. The doc's been gettin' his things ready since he got here and Hop Sing knows a thing or two too. Can't say's as Joe didn't look right awful, but Doc Martin is a good doctor."

Another ragged scream carried down the stairs and Stacey found her legs giving way beneath her. The man grasped at her elbow and pushed her towards the sofa.

* * *

Paul had already been given enough information from Glen's description that he knew Joe would need anesthetizing in order for him to stitch up the wound. He was expecting it to be bad, but as he carefully unpeeled the bandage that had soaked through and partially dried, he sucked in a sharp breath. No matter how carefully he tried to check the wound, he was not surprised when Joe screamed in agony. It was taking both his father and brother to hold him down and he decided to pull out the ether before he went any further. It took some maneuvering to get Joe in a position where he could administer it and he screamed again before its effects took over and he fell back against the pillow.

"Hop Sing, I'm going to need you here. Ben, I want you three out of here."

Before Ben could protest, Paul lifted his eyes and shook his head firmly. "In case you hadn't noticed, your other son is about to keel over, so do me a favour and take the distraction out of here."

Ben glared at him and swallowed down a retort before glancing back towards Adam. What Paul had said was true and he reluctantly went for his son's good arm as Hoss moved to the other side of him. Adam didn't have the strength to argue as he was led out of the room, but he didn't miss the look on his father's face as they reached the door.

"He made it home, Pa. That's all he needed. You know how Little Joe is about the Ponderosa."

"Sure, Pa. Best medicine anyone coulda given him!" Hoss nodded emphatically as he steered Adam out the door.

Ben nodded as he continued into the hallway and wasn't sure if Adam was still leaning on him or he was leaning on his son.

* * *

It was far too long when Paul and Hop Sing finally made their way down the stairs and Ben was on his feet before they reached the bottom stair.

"Well?"

Paul held up a hand to forestall the questions and moved over to where Adam was slumped against the side of the sofa. "I still need to set that arm and I'll fill you in as I work."

Adam allowed his arm to be unwrapped and examined while the whole time he was gritting his teeth against the pain. The large whiskey that Hoss had poured for him earlier was long gone and so were its soothing effects.

"Sorry, I just need to make sure this is still aligned." Eventually Paul began re-splinting the arm and he nodded at his patient.

"Hoss did a good job on setting that bone."

"It weren't me. Miss Stacey over there done it."

Paul took in the young woman who was curled into Ben's favoured chair, looking like she was almost asleep and he smiled at her. "Well done, young lady. I was afraid of what I might find, given how long it's been, but Adam owes you a debt of thanks that he won't have any problems with his arm."

"I owe him far more." The words were barely a whisper and Paul took a closer look at her. Fatigue drew dark rings under her eyes, but his experience told him there was something more. He pushed it aside as Ben hovered beside him. He turned back to the impatient father and pulled himself upright after patting Adam on the shoulder.

Hop Sing appeared from nowhere, carrying a cup of coffee which he gratefully received before reporting what they all needed to hear.

"Paul?" Ben's patience had reached its limit.

"I don't need to tell any of you that Joe has lost a lot of blood. That knife wound was deep and he's lucky in a way it was a slice and not a stab, or he'd probably be dead." He paused as that idea soaked in and took another sip of his coffee. His own fatigue was catching up with him and he leaned against the back of the chair.

'I've stitched it as best I can, but it's going to require him to keep still if it's going to really heal. That isn't going to be easy!"

"Paul … he will be alright though?" It was more a demand than a question and Paul looked up to see a father's anxiety staring back at him.

"I'm afraid he's very weak and will need close monitoring. It's going to be a fine line between keeping up the pain relief to immobilize him and having him awake enough to take in sustenance. You know how Joe can be when it comes to laudanum and I think he may need morphine before this is all done."

Ben frowned at the revelation and shook his head. He knew Paul's aversion to using morphine if he could help it, given its addictive qualities and the fact he was even suggesting it showed how much pain his son was facing.

"The wound should eventually heal, but I'm deeply concerned at the general state of his health prior to all this. He seems to have lost any physical reserves he had and is definitely thinner. That wound in his shoulder would explain a lot and my hat's off to you once again, Miss as I'm led to believe it was your nursing that pulled him through that. He's going to need constant care for some time yet which won't go down well with my most uncooperative patient!"

Stacey coloured as all eyes turned her way. She felt sick as she remembered how very close Joe had come to succumbing to that same wound, although she held her tongue as she recalled him trying repeatedly to climb out of bed as fever addled his thinking.

"We're all here, Doc. We'll take turns and Little Joe won't be left alone for a minute!" Hoss glanced across at Adam who was still looking a shade paler than his usual self and saw the same resolution there.

"I can help too," Stacey's voice barely carried across the open space of the room, but Ben turned towards her anyway.

"We can't impose any further on you. You've already done enough."

It was meant to be a thank you and yet fatigue and guilt combined to twist it into a condemnation.

 _You've done enough! My son is better off out of your hands! Stay away from him!_

Nobody was aware of the effects the words had on her and Stacey nodded quietly in agreement. Hoss reached out a hand towards her and nodded towards the guest room door.

"There's a bed in there if you'd like to get some rest. One of the hands brought your things in earlier, I think."

 _You are not part of this family and its decision making process._

The dismissal was abrupt and she allowed herself to be pulled upright and herded across the room until she could close the door behind her. Instead of bothering to wash up, she simply fell across the bed and allowed her tears to soak into the pillow before exhaustion claimed her.

* * *

It would be one of the longest nights that Ben had ever endured. The night that Joe's letter had stolen any hope of his son's return had rated as one of the worst, but now it faded away as he considered it was all just a huge lie. What was most definitely not a lie was Paul's warning that Joe would need morphine to keep him under the pain threshold. He brushed a hand through his son's damp curls and could not take his eyes off the bandage that swathed his back and right shoulder. He'd seen the ghastly stripe that ran beneath it and he felt his stomach start churning again. Joe was sleeping soundly under the morphine's effects, but his face still did not look peaceful. He was propped on his side in an attempt to alleviate any pressure on the wound, but it made it very difficult to get any water into his mouth without turning him. The compromise was to drip feed him the water and hope it was enough.

He looked across the room towards the moonlight at the window and wondered what time it was. It had been hours since Glen had arrived with Harry in tow and the two of them had promised a full report in daylight hours before heading for the bunkhouse. For now, it was sufficient to know that Roy had Nate under lock and key.

"I'm sorry, Joe." The words choked on his lips as he wondered for the thousandth time what had provoked such a vicious attack on his youngest son. All he knew was that Nate held him somehow responsible for something and Joe had been his point of revenge. He could not think of what that something could be, having dragged through every memory he had of both Nate and Mac since he employed them. Hoss said it was something from before then, but even so, he did not know either man and had no inkling what their gripe was. The fact his son had paid the price for it did not sit well on his shoulders and he reached out again to stroke Joe's face.

"I'm so sorry, Son."

* * *

Adam wandered out into the yard and nodded as he saw Harry giving his horse a rub down. The saddle and blanket lay draped over the hitching rail and Harry was whistling as he worked.

"I heard you were gonna be heading back to Silver Falls."

"Yep. I've got some things there to take care of, but I'll be back for the trial."

Adam nodded as he thought about that. Nate had not denied anything, but neither was he confessing anything either. It didn't matter that he wanted to just charge into Roy's jail and put a bullet between the man's eyes, for he knew that justice did not work that way. Of course, the courts did not always deliver justice, but with a sheriff's testimony on top of everyone else's, he was fairly confident that Virginia City would soon see a hanging. They just needed Joe back on his feet to testify at the trial and it would be clinched. If he wasn't ready by the time the circuit court judge arrived in town, it would come down to everybody else to make the case. Adam frowned as he considered what could happen there. Would he fail his brother again by not taking care of the man who had twice tried to kill him? As if reading his thoughts, Harry stopped what he was doing and leaned against the hitching rail.

"It's not your fault, you know."

"Sure it's not!" The bitter tone to his voice was not lost on the sheriff. He'd heard it come out of his own mouth.

"I'm sure that it's not. We can't always protect them. As much as we might want to."

Adam looked up at the comment and saw himself reflected back. He had come to know a kindred spirit in the time they had been together and he understood all too well.

"I should have known it didn't add up. Joe would never do what I accused him of. I should have known my own brother."

"Well, I did know my little brother and that still didn't save him. I knew something was going on. Somebody he'd crossed paths with. The funny thing is … Luke died tryin' to protect me! Stupid kid put his nose into things he shoulda stayed out of, but that was my kid brother."

Adam stared at the revelation and drew in a slow breath. Stacey had only given him sketchy details and said she had no idea who had killed her husband.

"Don't you go sayin' anything to Stacey! What she don't know will keep her safe."

"Is she safe? Really?" Adam could see for himself the struggle an honest lawman would have with keeping a secret from a loved one, but he also saw the pain behind it.

"As long as she thinks they were after Luke, she's safe. If she ever starts pokin' around anywhere else, she'll stir up trouble and I won't let that happen again. I failed her once and it won't happen again!"

Harry went back to saddling his horse as Adam simply chewed over his comments.

"I'm leaving Stace here to rest up for a bit. She doesn't know yet and she'll try to fight me, but she needs some time to be taken care of. I'm trusting that job to you, Adam Cartwright. One big brother to another."

Adam smiled as Harry laughed at him while poking him in the chest.

"And who knows … that little brother of yours might just finish what he started."

Adam outright laughed at that comment. He'd seen the way Stacey looked at his brother and realised that Harry hadn't missed it either.

"I think it's about time she was happy again."


	12. Chapter 12

This started life as a simple idea and has taken on a life of its own! Thank you so much for your ongoing support and I promise, answers are coming.

 **Chapter Twelve**

Breakfast was still rather subdued as it had been for the last few days. Stacey forced herself to eat enough to ward off Hop Sing's ire, and she marveled at how much Hoss could consume in one sitting. She still felt at a loss that Harry had ridden away and left her behind, but he'd insisted she take some time to rest and Adam had urged her to agree. She didn't want to rest. She wanted to go home where she could forget she had ever dared to start dreaming again. The thin line across her throat had physically almost healed over, but the fear behind it had simply been buried.

Upstairs, Adam sat with his empty coffee mug in his hand and his head off somewhere else. He had no idea how long he had been sitting there when he sensed movement beside him. The soft rustle of sheets drew him back to the room and he glanced over to see Joe struggling to open his eyes. He leaned closer and dropped the mug onto the bedside table before reaching out his hand.

"Joe? Can you hear me?"

"Pa?"

"Sorry, Buddy, it's just me, Adam. But I can get Pa for you."

"A'am." The word sounded heavy and thick and Adam instinctively reached for the glass of water on the table.

"You want some water?"

As Joe struggled to lift his head and take a few sips, Adam debated shouting for his father.

Joe dropped his head back to the pillow and closed his eyes, but Adam moved closer and ran a hand through his brother's hair.

"Hey, don't you go back to sleep just yet. Pa's gonna want to talk to you."

When Joe barely managed a smile in response and still didn't open his eyes, Adam pushed himself to his feet and headed for the door.

"Pa! Come on up here!"

He was only just settled back in the chair when he heard boots running on the floorboards outside and both his father and brother barreled into the room. He saw the look of alarm on both of their faces and forestalled any comments by pointing to his brother.

"Joe's awake."

"Joseph?" Ben was leaning across the bed in an instant and he gently rested a hand on Joe's shoulder. "Can you hear me, Son?"

"Pa." Joe barely managed to open his eyes, but he felt his father's presence and smiled at him.

Stacey had stayed seated as the two men at the table responded to Adam's urgent shout. She didn't trust herself to stand up as the worst of her fears began clamoring for her attention. When she heard a sharp knocking at the door, and no sign of anyone returning, she headed for the front door instead.

Roy was surprised to see her open the door, but wished her a good morning and asked if any of the family was at home. Once again, the reminder that she was not family and not included in discussions was rammed home.

"They're all upstairs. I'm … I'm not sure if something is wrong with Joe."

Roy noted the hitch in her breath and glanced in the general direction of the upstairs rooms. He momentarily waited at the foot of the stairs before starting on up. It wasn't what he would usually do, but with Joe's condition still so precarious, he figured he might be needed to ride for Paul. His concern was short-lived as he saw Hoss and Adam coming his way and he nodded at both of them.

"Little Joe alright?"

"He finally woke up. Just for a few minutes, but I don't think Pa wants to leave him just yet." Adam smiled as he thought of his father's face when Joe really responded to him at long last.

"Well that's the best news I've heard in too long!"

"What brings ya out here, Roy?" Hoss was already moving to the table to refill his coffee while offering one to the sheriff.

Roy scratched at his neck as he considered his words carefully. "Well, I got some information on Nate and his brother."

Stacey had all but melted into the background as the trio settled into the chairs. She felt like an intruder and yet she desperately wanted to know what the sheriff had uncovered.

"Pa is gonna want to hear this, but he ain't gonna want to leave Joe alone just yet."

"I could watch him while you talk."

Adam nodded in appreciation as Stacey stepped forward again.

By the time she found herself alone in the room with Joe, he was once again soundly asleep. She seated herself beside the bed and tried desperately not to think about the nights she had done the same thing and prayed the stranger before her would not die. It seemed that Joe had beaten the odds once again and the doctor's prognosis was good, but it was clearly going to be a long haul back from the brink. His face was flushed as his temperature hovered higher than it should be, but the doctor had made it clear it was to be expected. She was just grateful it was nowhere near where it had climbed to the last time she had cared for him.

* * *

"Do you remember a man called Nathaniel Landry?"

"Landry?" Ben stared at Roy as if he had just dug up a buried box and sprung open the lid. It wasn't full of treasure, but long-dead sour memories. "Yes, I remember him. Why?"

"You remember he had a wife and four children?"

"Of course I do! Why, Roy?"

"Well that young fella locked up in my jail is one of 'em."

"Are you sure?" Ben stood to his feet and paced across to the fireplace before turning back to face his friend.

"'fraid so, Ben. Not that he told me as much, but once I did some more digging and got me a name, he didn't deny it."

"Who's Nathaniel Landry, Pa?" Hoss had seen the change in his father's demeanor and didn't understand why.

Ben didn't speak for a long time before he finally answered. "He used to work for me a long time ago. He was a ranch hand here on the Ponderosa for near on two years."

"Pa?" Adam too could see his father processing something and he felt his gut churning as he waited. "I remember him. One day he was here and the next he was gone. I never did find out why."

Ben ignored the implied question and looked over to Roy instead. "Roy, I need to speak to Nate."

"Now, I'm not so sure that's a good idea, Ben!"

"Roy!" Ben glared at him while Roy stared him down.

"Soon as you tell me why you're so all-fired up."

"Because according to the obituary pages in the Carson City paper, Nate Landry is supposed to have died six years ago in an accident!"

* * *

Adam could not sleep, no matter what he tried. He had been tossing from one position to another for some time when he finally decided to get up and do something else. Like check on his brother again. He threw back the blanket that had twisted around his waist and reached for a robe that was laid over the end of the bed. He didn't bother pulling out the slippers under the bed, deciding he didn't want to risk waking anyone else. It had been a long night waiting for his father to return from Virginia City and hopefully fill in some gaping holes for them all. The fact he had returned empty-handed as Nate had clammed up was beyond frustrating. Adam had mulled over a multitude of questions until his head ached, but not one of them had any answers. His father had simply said that Nate had vowed not to speak until his trial, at which point everything would be on public record. Adam wasn't so sure that any good could come from that, but he held his tongue and had paced his bedroom floor well into the night.

When he made his way to Joe's door, he was surprised to see it was already open. Alarmed at the thought that Joe may have needed something and nobody had heard him, he hurried towards it and suddenly pulled up short. A soft voice carried across the space between him and the door and he was shocked to realise it was Stacey. Caught between eavesdropping and revealing his presence, he hesitated too long and suddenly found himself trapped in the corridor.

Stacey had been unable to fall asleep and finally decided she needed to see Joe for herself. Her head told her to go home and pick up her life where she had left off, but her heart would not allow her to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, a smiling face loomed back at her and she found herself struggling to breathe. It felt wonderful to feel alive again and yet a part of her felt like she was betraying the man she had given her marriage vows to. Would Luke understand? Would Harry?

She perched on the edge of the chair and stared at Joe's features, secure in the knowledge he was deeply asleep under the influence of laudanum. It somehow made it easier to speak what she could not allow herself to say in the daylight. She dared not touch him and yet everything in her ached to reach out and grasp hold of his hand or run a hand down his cheek. The smile she had grown to love was nowhere to be seen and she wanted to shake him awake and say something funny just to see it one more time.

"You silly little girl! You're acting like this is some kind of schoolgirl crush," she admonished herself. Her heart was racing against her chest and she sucked in a deep breath before daring herself to take a chance. It may well be the last chance she would ever have and she simultaneously prayed that Joe would not suddenly wake up, while half hoping that he would. Tears welled in her eyes as she leaned forward and brushed a faint kiss across Joe's lips. Logic told her that he was drugged and oblivious to her, but a nagging voice of doubt told her that he did not want her when he didn't respond. Her finger trailed down the side of his face and she tentatively reached over once more. The second kiss would be the last she would ever have and she hesitated to even try. Suddenly she sobbed as she leaned forward again and took one final memento to hold onto.

"I could give you my heart, Joseph Cartwright … if you wanted it. It's not quite in one piece … and maybe not good enough for your family … but it's all yours … if you even want me."

Adam heard the raw emotion behind the comment and decided he needed to get away before he was discovered. He began to backtrack towards his door when something else took over and he headed for the stairs instead. He would never be quite sure of what prompted his out-of-character decision, but he would later blame it on having read too many books of poetry. Whether or not Joe would appreciate it remained to be seen.

Adam leaned back into the chair and stared at the flames that burned low in the grate. He had no idea how long he'd been there when he heard a faint noise on the landing above the stairs. Before he could pull himself out of the chair, he saw Stacey making her way down towards him. He tried not to startle her, but there was no way to make his presence known in the middle of the night without doing so. She jumped back as she heard his voice and then slowly made her way forwards.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."

"It's alright. I just … I wanted a glass of water and didn't expect anybody else would be awake."

Adam conveniently ignored the patently obvious that Stacey would have been coming from the guest bedroom and not from upstairs as he offered to get her one. Stacey felt the colour rising to her cheeks and knew she had been caught out. She had no idea what Adam would think of her sneaking into his brother's room in the middle of the night and she wanted to run and hide.

Adam had already headed for the kitchen and quickly returned with a glass of cold water. As he passed it to her, he motioned towards the sofa. "Please, join me in a nightcap." As he settled back into his own chair, he retrieved the glass he'd left on the table and drained the whiskey from it.

"You're having trouble sleeping too?"

Adam nodded slowly and watched her expression closely as he poured himself another drink. She shook her head as he offered her one and she stiffly settled on the sofa. He realised they'd all been so caught up in their own worry over Joe that her concern had been almost glossed over. While it wasn't exactly ideal timing, Adam figured now was as good a time as any to address it.

"You care about him, don't you?"

Stacey looked away as she tried to keep a lid on her emotions. There was no need to ask who Adam was referring to. "Of course I care what happens to him. He was so very sick when he found me."

"That's not what I asked. It's more than that isn't it?" As Stacey turned to look back at him, she saw compassion in Adam's expression. She barely nodded before looking away again.

"I hope you don't mind me being forthright, but from what Harry told me about Luke, I think he'd be all right with you starting to live again."

Tears pricked at her eyes as she turned back towards him. She'd seen for herself just how much Adam loved his brother and how protective he was of him and she felt herself relax a little under his quiet gaze. She smiled as she considered just how much alike her Harry was to Joe's Adam. Would Harry understand if she dared to give her heart to someone else? She had no idea if Joe even wanted it and she found herself floundering once again in a whirlpool of emotions. She must have drifted off for some time, because she suddenly felt Adam sit down next to her on the sofa. His presence calmed her racing thoughts and she looked up to see him watching her.

"Harry wants you to be happy."

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Read my thoughts! I don't even know what I think and yet you seem to see right inside me."

Adam laughed softly as he smiled at her. "It's a big brother secret. We all have the ability. It comes with the birth of our siblings."

Stacey laughed as she looked at him once again and decided that Joe was a very blessed younger brother.

"Don't you think you are getting ahead of things?"

"Nope." Adam watched her fidget under his scrutiny and he smiled again before patting her hand. "Now I think it's time we both got some sleep, don't you?"

Stacey tried to stifle a yawn and gigged as Adam raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't think I can argue with you there."

Adam waited until she had headed for the guest room before turning for the stairs. He was almost at his own room before he found himself turning back towards Joe's door. He nudged the door open and hesitated briefly in the gap. He smiled at his own hesitation before moving over and settling in the chair next to Joe's bed. His brother had never needed his matchmaking services before and he couldn't define why he even felt he needed to get involved now. Both of them were still so very young and yet he knew that both possessed a strength that belied their years. The independent, feisty young woman who had outwitted a knife-wielding lunatic could certainly hold her own with his brother. He just hoped that Joe knew what had landed in his lap before she left and went home for good.

He sat and watched as Joe slept a more peaceful sleep than he'd seen in some time. The doc's laudanum had once again dulled the pain and allowed him to sleep without any restlessness. He allowed himself a smile as he thought of what he had inadvertently overheard.

"Pleasant dreams, Little Joe." He padded across the room and finally made his own way to bed.


	13. Chapter 13

Well you finally get a few answers this chapter and a few more in the next one. Thank you for sticking around and making your way through the maze with me. I've enjoyed reading your feedback and ideas.

 **Chapter Thirteen**

Ben paced across the floor before Paul interrupted his train of thought.

"I don't want him on that witness stand tomorrow, Ben. He can barely sit up yet, let alone sit in that seat for who knows how long."

"What about Adam's idea of a compromise? Roy, you use his written statement for the judge and if it's not enough, we bring him across from the hotel?" It wasn't ideal and he still didn't want to move his son into town, but Joe had been adamant about testifying. Right up until he passed out from the stress of arguing.

Roy nodded in agreement, but as a lawman who knew the sometimes fickle nature of the circuit judges, he would much prefer his actual witness on the stand.

"Could work." The tone of his voice did not inspire much confidence in anybody.

"You've still got all your other witnesses, Roy. That should be more than enough!"

"Now you just stick to doctorin' and leave the law stuff to me. All the other witnesses can testify to is Nate attacking young Stacey and tyin' up those two, but those aren't hangin' offences. As to his threats against young Glen, it could be dismissed as hearsay."

"But he nearly killed Joe!"

"Yep. And a half decent lawyer could make a case for self defense. After all, you all told me that it was Joe who attacked Nate first. Without Joe on the stand to refute anything, he could get away with it." Roy waved a hand to forestall the coming objections as Hoss headed towards him, his face looking like thunder. "Joe is also the only witness to what happened the day he left the Ponderosa and Nate is entitled to face his accuser. It's the justice system I'm afraid."

"Justice!" Ben roared at him. He pointed a finger towards the stairs. "What justice has there been for Joe so far? My son has been brutalized and all apparently because of a misguided grudge that is fourteen years old! You heard Joe, Roy. Nate tortured him before leaving him to die. Coyote bait was the term he used. He left my son to die!"

Adam reached a hand to his father and tried to clamp down his own anger. Joe had described Nate driving a knife into his shoulder and when he became agitated with the memory, Joe had fought off anybody who tried to calm him. It wasn't until he hesitantly told them about Nate kneeling on his arms and pinning him to the ground that they had understood why he was so resistant to being restrained.

Hiram had been listening to everything and making his own notes. "Based on the background information you gave us, I have an idea for a way to play this … but I have to warn you, Ben … it's not without risk." Suddenly all eyes were on the lawyer as he moved into the centre of the room. When nobody commented, he continued.

"We need to get Nate to show his true colours in court. He's been pretty crafty at keeping himself looking like one of your regular hands and the fact he concealed his relationship with his younger brother was all no doubt part of his plan. Roy still hasn't gotten to the bottom of that death notice and we don't know much of what his game is. Ben, I need you to rile him up. Publicly. Get him to spill whatever he's holding back."

Glen leaned back against the dining table and considered the group in front of him. He'd seen a family who would do anything for each other and the doctor and sheriff were clearly old family friends. Glen knew full well that he was loyal to the family and considered himself brave enough to stand up to be counted, but he wasn't at all sure of anything. What puzzled him was whether or not the lawyer was on the right track so he held his tongue and listened as the planning continued.

* * *

Stacey ran a thumb down the edge of the book she had been trying to read for the better part of half an hour. The words danced across the page as her mind wandered off elsewhere. The afternoon breeze was picking up outside and she stood up to close the window. As she turned back towards the seat, she could see Joe watching her and she smiled at him.

The low-grade fever that had plagued his days seemed to be tailing off and the colour in his face looked more natural. What still didn't look right was the pain in his eyes as the doctor tried to taper off the laudanum. Without waiting to be asked, she reached for a glass of water and watched as he downed it. The sound of raised voices carried up the stairs and Joe shifted against the pile of pillows he was propped up against. Stacey reached out a hand to steady him and then abruptly pulled back. Her rash moment of night-time madness had made her second guess every thing she did or said since. Adam had not mentioned anything further, although he had been quietly attentive to her needs and she was profoundly grateful he was there, even if she did still feel embarrassed.

She was hoping to have Harry back on the ranch so she could feel a little less out of place with at least one longstanding ally beside her, but he had not returned as promised. Roy had assured the family that he would be there for the trial and she wondered what the two of them were planning together. Harry had not told her anything and it grated that she was being left out of the loop.

Joe didn't seem to notice her tense reaction as he swallowed down the groan that threatened to escape. "Let me guess, they're arguin' over me testifying."

Stacey nodded at him. "The doctor doesn't want you in the court room tomorrow."

"But I have to tell them what he did!"

The conversation went back around the same road it had traveled for the last few days and Stacey tried her best to keep Joe calm. As with every other conversation on the same topic, it wasn't working.

* * *

Ben placed his hat on the rail beside him and sat down after being sworn in. He looked across the room at the young man who sat staring right back at him. The coldness in those eyes shook him as he considered everything the man had done to his youngest son. His hands itched to reach across the open space and grasp hold of him before pounding him into the floor. He forced himself to keep still and looked across to where two of his sons were seated. Adam still wore the sling around his right arm and even though Ben knew it was healing, he only added that further injury to a very long list. His eldest son wore the same calm face that he could usually manage under most circumstances and Ben was grateful for his calming presence. He knew that underneath that calm exterior, a rage was boiling, but Adam could generally keep a lid on his emotions. Unlike Joe, whose emotions often ruled his life. Ben's thoughts wandered off to his youngest son who had railed against being left behind that morning. It was only because Hop Sing had threatened to hobble him if he tried getting out of bed that Joe had acquiesced. It would have been funny if it weren't so serious. Hoss sat beside Adam and Glen sat with Paul in the row behind them while many of the Ponderosa hands filled up other seats. Ben was once again grateful for the solid wall of support.

Hiram had outlined his plan of attack the day before and Ben was still not convinced, but he couldn't come up with anything better, short of dragging Joe into the courtroom. He would not allow it unless things turned very sour on them.

"Mister Cartwright, do you know the defendant?"

"Yes, it's Nate Landry."

"And how do you know Mister Landry?"

"He came to work for me as a ranch hand a few months ago, but I knew him before that."

A murmur ran through the crowd as it had been assumed by the town gossips that Nate was just some saddle tramp that Ben had hired on.

"How so?'

"Well, his father worked for me many years ago. Nate was just a boy and I didn't make the connection at the time."

Hiram glanced across to see Nate had shifted in his seat, but his face remained impassive.

"Could you tell the court about his father's time working for you?"

"Objection, Your Honour! What is the relevance of this line of questioning?" Nate's lawyer was on his feet in seconds and the judge looked towards Hiram.

"It's very relevant, Your Honour, which we will demonstrate if the court will allow."

"I'll give you a little latitude, but only a little. Mister Cartwright, please answer the question."

Ben deliberately stared at Nate as he spoke, as if nobody else was in the courtroom. "His father, Nathaniel came to work for me and I met his wife and children along the way. Nate would have been only seven or eight at the time and his brother Mac was probably five or so. As time went on, I realised there was something wrong with the man. He was a drunkard, but he managed to keep his drinking under control for the most part and I knew his family needed him to have a job. As long as he did his work, I was prepared to keep him on. Until eventually I couldn't."

Hiram turned to face the courtroom before speaking again. "Could you tell the court what changed?"

"Nathaniel almost killed my youngest son."

"That's a lie!" Nate was on his feet and pointing towards Ben while his lawyer urged him to sit down. Ben was expecting it, but the look of hatred that flashed his way caught him by surprise.

The crowd once again began murmuring and the judge banged on his gavel to gain order.

"Mister Cartwright, I remind you that you are under oath."

"I know that, Your Honour and what I said is the truth." Nate growled across the room, but stayed seated.

"Then please continue."

"Well, Nathaniel and his wife lost a child that winter to pneumonia. I think it drove his drinking even harder and one day he turned up very late for work. He was drunk and riding a horse into the yard full tilt. My son was only seven and was almost trampled by the horse. When I was told later what had happened, I fired him on the spot."

"You took the word of a stinkin' yella man over my pa!" Nate was once again shouting and Ben looked towards Hiram. He wanted to respond back and provoke an argument, but he needed the lawyer to play out his hand.

"Order!" The judge pointed towards Nate's lawyer. "Restrain your client in my courtroom!"

As things settled again, Ben continued to speak while not taking his eyes off Nate.

"I went out to see him some time later … to check on the welfare of his family really … and they were gone. A neighbour said they had moved away and not left any idea of where they were going."

"That's another lie! You chased us outta town! My pa said you poisoned folks against him and he couldn't get no work after that."

"Order!" The judge banged his gavel again and Hiram nodded towards Ben. He knew there was only a slim window of opportunity left and he took it.

"Your pa was a drunk who made his own bed and couldn't lie in it. Why would you defend a man who beat alla you young ones along with your ma?"

Nate was on his feet and his lawyer was trying valiantly to pull him back down.

"Order! Take your seats!"

"You ruined my pa! You used your son as an excuse to ruin him so I used your son as way to ruin you!"

The murmurs rose in volume and the judge continued to bang his gavel loudly, to no avail.

Knowing what he was risking, Ben pushed on. "You tried to kill my son! Twice!" Hiram was making a pretense of holding his friend back, while Ben was past acting and genuinely enraged.

"I shoulda finished the job the first time!"

A hush suddenly fell over the room as Nate realised what he had said. The anger embedded in him spewed out of him as he screamed at the man he held responsible for everything that had gone wrong for his family. He gestured wildly around the room as Roy moved over towards him. "The almighty Ben Cartwright! The man all of Virginia City holds on a pedestal. If only you fine citizens really knew the man my father knew. He destroyed my pa. Took our childhood away! Took our home! The fine upstanding man that he is is built on the blood and sweat of men like my pa. He throws them away and just gets new ones when they wear out!"

"That's a lie!" A voice cut across the tirade and Nate turned to see a young girl of sixteen or so standing just within the doorway with Harry holding her elbow. Nate blanched as he looked at her and his mouth hung open.

"Surprised to see me, _brothe_ r _!_ " The word was spat at him and Nate simply stared at her. The court room descended into silence as the girl made her way forward with an older couple just behind on either side of her.

"Our pa was an evil man who drank every day of his life after William died. He blamed Mama for that which I never understood. He beat us and drove you out of our home. I heard him tell you if you ever came back, he'd kill you. He told everybody you were dead after that. Even put it in the paper so's nobody would come looking for you."

Tears streamed down her face as she took a deep breath and continued. "You probably know from Mac, but not long after that, I ran away too before Pa really did kill one of us. I tried to get Mac to run too, but he was scared that Pa would hunt us down like he said he did to you. I heard the name Cartwright almost every day of my life when our pa blamed that family for all our ills. I hated them too, just like you did, but it was all a lie."

The judge sat with his gavel suspended in mid-air as he considered the child who held his courtroom enthralled.

"Pa was sick. And he made you sick too. Only different." At that point the girl's emotions overwhelmed her and she would have sagged to the floor except for the sheriff standing beside her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and held on tightly as she leaned against him.

Nate stared at her as if weighing the words. No words came out of his mouth as he simply gaped at her.

As if finally recovering his wits, the judge banged his gavel again and pointed it at Roy. "This trial is adjourned! Take the prisoner back to the jail and then get back over here. In the meantime, I want this courtroom cleared except for the two attorneys!" As he slammed the gavel down once again, a ruckus erupted. Roy tugged at Nate's arm as a deputy moved up alongside him and Ben made his way back to his sons. The girl who had interrupted proceedings so spectacularly was being escorted from the room by the couple who first entered with her and Harry was shadowing along behind. Adam wanted to charge over to chase after her, but managed to turn back to his father instead.

"Pa, you okay?" Hoss had a firm grip on his father's arm and Adam wasn't entirely sure he was.

"I think I need a whiskey."


	14. Chapter 14

For some strange reason, according to ffnet stats, the previous chapter seems to have dropped off the radar for a heap of readers. So in case you missed it, please go back and read it as this chapter will make a whole lot more sense.

 **Chapter Fourteen**

Joe drifted between trying to keep his eyes open and strange dreams that jolted him awake again. He had argued for all he was worth to be allowed to go to the court hearing and give his testimony, but Hiram had assured him that he had a plan. He had promised to come and get Joe if he thought it was needed and Joe had reluctantly given up the fight. He would not ever admit that he felt a sense of relief at the plan as his body just didn't seem to have any strength left. Sitting up for any length of time left him feeling drained and the idea of a wagon trip to Virginia City made him feel nauseous. Still, he could not live with the idea that Nate was not brought to justice.

He lifted his eyelids once again and forced himself to keep them open. Stacey was standing by the window with a closed book in her hand, but she was clearly away somewhere else. He knew that Hiram did not expect her to testify so early in the trial and she had chosen to stay at the Ponderosa for the day. In the coming days, she would have to give her story and he felt his heart rate rising at the thought. He noted the blue scarf she wore around her throat and he felt his fists clenching into the blanket as he remembered the reason for it. The look on her face as Nate had threatened to slit her throat brought a growl from the pit of his stomach and she jumped in alarm.

"Joe? Are you in pain?"

Pain was a relative term, he had decided. The doc's morphine had carried away any vestige of pain and yet when he woke up as it wore off, the pain had seemed to double in intensity. When Paul decided to take it away from him, he had wanted to argue. The cloud of oblivion killed every kind of pain, even the pain in his chest that threatened to choke him whenever he started to think too much. And there was the rub. He had far too much time to think and far too many thoughts tormenting him.

"No, I'm fine."

Stacey was already sitting beside him on the chair and he smiled back at her as best as he could. He wanted to see the look of worry go away and the smile come back that he knew was hidden under there.

"What time is it?"

Before she could respond, the sound of horses in the yard below had her back on her feet and checking to see who it was. A group of hands rode in and began tying horses to the hitching rail, but there was no sign of anyone else. Stacey held her breath as she waited for more riders. Was their absence a good thing or a bad thing? Suddenly she saw Hop Sing burst out of the front door and start talking to Hank. Wild gesturing from the man caused her to worry even more and her heart seemed to stop in her chest. Suddenly she saw Hop Sing turn for the house and within minutes he was at the bedroom door.

Joe watched as Hop Sing smiled at him and knew that didn't mean anything. Hop Sing would put a brave face on anything if it meant saving him some worry.

"What's going on? Where's Pa?" Joe tried to sit up and he groaned again as the muscles in his back protested.

"You no move. Your fader on his way home. Tell you everything. But you no need to go to court."

"What does that mean?"

Joe's imagination was running wild as he considered the incomplete news. He hated being left behind that morning and he would not admit to anybody that he still feared what Nate was capable of. He had seen the madness in the man's eyes and heard the hatred that spewed from his lips. He shivered as he considered the threats the man had made that his memory was slowly dredging back up to the surface.

Stacey noted his reaction and moved to pull the blanket up higher. "Rest. They'll be home soon enough."

Joe stared at her without responding. She could not possibly understand his anxious thoughts and need to see his family was still in one piece. It would be another three very long hours before they heard horses in the yard below.

Ben strode into Joe's room and smiled at Stacey as she removed herself from the only chair. He settled himself beside his son and was not surprised when Joe grasped for his hand.

"It's over, Son."

It wasn't that Joe didn't believe his father, but it could not be that simple. Three little words to wipe away months of fear and pain and anger. Words would not form in his mouth and he stared at his father's face, searching for answers.

"Joe, Nate confessed to trying to kill you and he's locked up in Roy's jail."

"You shoulda seen Pa and Hiram get it outta him!" Hoss beamed at Joe as he nodded towards Ben. "Best piece of acting I ever did see!"

"So … he's going to hang?" Joe could barely speak and he could not reconcile the relief coursing through him with the nausea rising up from his stomach.

Ben shifted a little as he shook his head. "No, he won't." He squeezed Joe's hand and hurried on to explain. "Nate has been declared insane and he'll be locked up for life in a sanitarium, but he can't be hung."

Joe's grip on his father's hand intensified and Ben could feel the tremor running through him. "He'll never hurt anybody again. Joe, there's a bigger story to all of this and justice is being served. I promise you, Son. I wouldn't have left that courtroom today if I thought otherwise."

Joe felt numb as he heard his father's words.

Justice.

What was justice anyway?

He had dreamed of that day many times and each time he woke up in a cold sweat. The wound in his shoulder had all but healed and yet it still ached. He wasn't sure if it was just in his head and he would not ask Paul a question he wasn't sure he wanted answered. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the face of a madman laughing at him. He felt his skin crawl and wanted to climb out of bed and take a bath. Nothing would ever really scrub off the dirt he felt still clung to him.

The scar across his back was a whole other story. He could not see it, but it dominated every hour of his day, whether waking or trying to sleep. The laudanum brought relief, but the ache never really went away. His body would carry the legacy of his encounters with Nate for the rest of his life. He had kept going on the idea that the man would soon hang at the end of a noose and he felt somehow cheated by the news that would not happen. He felt sick at his own thoughts. Pa had taught them that vengeance was not their way, but he felt his gut churning as he could not contain his emotions any longer.

The sound of voices was muffled as if they were coming from a distance and it wasn't until a bright light shone in his face that he jolted back to the present. Paul was seated where his pa had been and looking extremely worried.

"Pa?" He batted away the lamp that Paul was holding up and anxiously searched the room for his father. "Pa!"

Ben dropped onto the other side of the bed and Joe grasped for him with both hands. As Ben gripped the sides of his face and leaned closer, he felt a wash of calm and his tangled thoughts began to settle.

"Pa."

"I'm right here, Joseph. I'm not going anywhere."

It would be hours later that Joe awoke from a deep sleep and found his father still seated where he had been. After agreeing to eat something, Ben had gone to retrieve a tray from the kitchen. As Joe settled against the pillows and forced himself to eat, he looked up at his father.

"Tell me what happened, Pa."

Ben pursed his lips and stayed silent for a moment, as if weighing something up. Finally he nodded and began to describe Hiram's plan and how it had played out.

"We needed to get Nate to incriminate himself. It was a gamble, but if it didn't work, we would have had to bring you in to testify."

"I could have, Pa!"

"I know that, Joe. It's just that you have not recovered yet and it's a long way into Virginia City in your present condition."

Joe reluctantly nodded as he considered how hard it was just to sit up for any length of time.

"Well, I got Nate to say he had tried to kill you, but before we could do anything with that … there was somewhat of a disruption."

Joe scanned his father's face, alarmed at the thought that Nate could have done anything at that point. "Disruption?"

Ben sighed as he considered how to fill in all the missing details. "Son, do you remember when you were seven that a rider came into the yard and nearly trampled you?"

"How could I forget? Hop Sing hauled me outta the way and was screaming in Chinese. I was so scared, I froze to the spot. I'da probably been dead if Hop Sing wasn't there. Why? What's that got to do with anything?"

"You probably don't remember the rider, but it was Nate's father. He was rotten drunk and he nearly killed you."

Ben continued to outline the pieces of the story as they had unfolded and Joe sat staring at him, in disbelief.

"I remember going to see the family and the neighbours told me they had left. I heard later they were in Carson City and I left it at that. I wish I'd done something more and maybe those children would have had a different life."

"You're not responsible for them, Pa! You kept him in a job longer'n anybody else would've."

Ben chewed at his lip as he looked at his son's face. Never, in his life could he imagine doing to his sons what Nathaniel Landry had inflicted on his wife and children. Grief was a strange beast and he'd teetered on the edge a couple of times, but it was his sons who had hauled him back. He loved them too much to let grief destroy him or them.

"It seems that Roy was beating himself up for not being here to get your warning when you wired him and he's been trying to find anything that could help. He and Harry have been doing some digging without telling me. They didn't want to hold out false hope, I guess."

"So what'd they find?"

"They found Nate's sister." Ben waited as his son absorbed that piece of information before continuing on.

"They didn't tell us in case she wouldn't come, but Harry turned up with her in time to deliver the final nail in the coffin. We talked with her for a while after the judge passed his sentence and she is an amazing young woman. It seems she ran away from her father and tried to convince Mac to leave too. He was too scared to go, but fear can be a powerful driver. She found work in a boarding house and over time, the widowed owner came to see her as a daughter. She eventually trusted her enough to tell her story and the woman got her brother to go and find out where Nate and Mac were. The information he came back with was horrific and they chose to protect her by keeping her identity secret and not giving her all the sordid details."

Joe looked white as he took in the information and Ben paused to check on him. "Are you alright, Joe?"

His son raised his eyes to his father and they were brimming with unshed tears. He licked his lip and tried to steady his breathing by blowing out a short breath. "Thank you."

Ben raised an eyebrow at the odd comment and waited to see if there was any more.

"Thank you for always being a man I can look up to and try to be like. I can't imagine living in fear of your own pa."

Ben reached forward to cup the back of his neck and choked down his own emotion. Nathaniel Landry had not always been a monster and he recalled riding herd with the man many years ago. He had sometimes spoken of his family with affection.

"Grief, loss of faith and alcohol are never a good mix. He didn't set out to be a bad father."

Joe watched his father's face and tried to understand what he was saying. Bad father didn't even begin to describe the man!

"And Nate didn't set out to be what he became. A tragic chain of events and some bad decisions compounded into a nightmare."

"What's going to happen to his sister?"

Ben thought back to the afternoon's surreal conversation in a hotel room. The girl had no family left except for a brother who would never see the light of day again. Her mother had died somewhere along the line and it could only be speculated as to the cause. Her father had died at the hands of his sons when Nate had grown enough to return to claim his siblings. Finding only Mac still there, Ben could see the scene that Harry had described from the Carson City sheriff's records. Revenge had been sickening in its detail. It was probably the first time that Nate had cut somebody's tongue out and Nathaniel had bled to death on the floor of his miserable home, unable to speak one more vile word.

"She's finally going to be free of her family legacy. She has somebody who cares for her and a safe place to live." He didn't mention the trust account that would be opened in her name that she would receive upon reaching her majority. It felt like such a small gesture in the face of everything, but it was something tangible. Her courage had saved his son from the stress of testifying and reliving his ordeal for all the world to see and for that, he was profoundly grateful.

"So it's over." Joe felt himself deflating as if the very air had been stolen out of his lungs.

"Yes, Joe, it's over." Ben watched as his son's hand slid down onto the blanket and he carefully removed the tray from his lap and placed it on the side table. He settled himself back on the chair and watched as Joe's breathing evened out and he was soon clearly asleep. He had seen his son injured before and had nursed him through various illnesses, but this time was different. This time Joe had believed his family hated him and the result was that he had struggled to recover. Weeks in bed had sapped his energy and even though Paul had promised a physical recovery with time, Ben wasn't entirely sure his son would fully recover in every way. The dark legacy of Nathaniel Landry had left scars on his son that he wasn't sure would ever fully heal.

* * *

Joe settled himself on the porch and leaned up against a post. The sun was dropping and the colours that splashed across the sky were breathtaking. He was lost in thought and didn't hear Adam's footsteps until his brother sat down beside him. No words passed between them, but it felt good to just sit together.

"Penny for your thoughts." Adam waited patiently as he wondered if Joe had even heard him.

"Adam, will you do me a favour?'

"Sure. Name it." It felt good to have his brother ask for something as he had been far too quiet and compliant in recent weeks.

"Ride with me to Silver Falls." As Joe turned towards him, Adam saw uncertainty on his brother's face. "Pa won't let me outta here alone and I need to go."

"You missing Harry that much?"

Joe dropped his head as he chuckled in response.

"Yeah, I miss Harry that much!"

Adam clamped a hand on his brother's neck and laughed at him. "Sure thing, little brother. I'll swing it with Pa."

Swinging it with Ben turned out to be a little harder than Adam had hoped, but eventually his father had given in. Adam read his father's concern and assured him that he would the first one to pull off the road and make camp for the day if Joe was not holding up in the saddle. Trusting his eldest son to do what he would do himself, he reluctantly watched as two of his sons rode away together for the first time in months.

Hoss stood beside his father and waved them off, knowing exactly what his little brother was chasing after and hoping he found what he wanted.

It would be a day and a half down the road that Joe suddenly pulled up short and Cochise pranced in a circle at the unexpected response from his rider.

"Joe?" Adam reined in his horse and pulled alongside his brother. He could not describe the look on his brother's face, but he felt alarmed at the sudden change in him. "Joe!"

Joe glanced down the road where they had come from and scratched at his head before replacing his hat. "I never could figure how I got from the Ponderosa to Silver Falls."

Adam just waited as it had been one of the mysteries that Joe's memory had never revealed. It was unimportant in the grand scheme of things and they had all let it slide.

"There was a lumber wagon. I was hiding in a gully, expecting Nate and Mac to come riding after me. I guess I musta climbed on the back of it and passed out."

Adam listened as Joe's breathing intensified and he readied himself to move in whatever way he needed to.

"I think I fell off the back. I remember waking up in the middle of the road and not knowing where I was. I think Stacey's ranch is just over that ridge."

"It is." Adam nodded as he remembered traveling the road in the wagon on the way back to Virginia City. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

Without responding, Joe kicked at Cochise's flanks and moved forward. Adam could see the tense set of his brother's shoulders and he moved up to walk alongside him. The next few miles passed in silence and Joe barely paused as he turned into the track that would take him back to Stacey's door. He had no idea what kind of welcome he would receive and his heart was pounding in his chest.

Adam remembered what Harry had told him about not startling Stacey unless he wanted a shotgun aimed his way and he was about to shout a greeting when he saw her. She was gathering firewood from beside the barn and she straightened up as they rode in. Adam waved at her as he dismounted and rushed over to help with the load of wood. As Joe was a little slower and stiffer in his dismount, the two of them were almost at the door before he was on his feet.

Stacey tried brushing stray wisps of hair back from her face and smoothed her dress as she smiled at him.

"You look so much better than the last time I saw you. Your pa wrote to me to say that you were getting stronger every day."

Joe was surprised his father had written any such letter, but then again, his pa did always seem to know the right etiquette for most things. He nodded in agreement and smiled back.

"Much better. Almost got rid of Doc Martin checkin' up on me!"

As Stacey led the way inside and made herself busy filling a pot with water and setting it to boil, she found herself struggling for something to say.

"What brings you both to Silver Falls?"

"A little unfinished business." Adam slid into the seat she had pointed out and twisted his hat in his hands. As Stacey glanced at him, he continued. "I'll be riding in to see Harry shortly."

Joe had almost fallen into the chair opposite and Stacey still had her back to him. She missed the look that Joe tossed his brother and Adam smirked at him. "Do you mind if I leave Joe here for a bit to rest up?"

"Of course not!" The answer was a little too forced and Adam held back a smile at her discomfort. As he quickly finished his coffee and placed his hat back on his head, he tipped the brim towards Stacey.

"Don't take any nonsense from him and I'll be back in a bit."

Stacey tried to read the expression on his face and gave up. "Why don't you bring Harry back with you for supper?"

"Will do."

Joe watched as his brother walked out the door and he swallowed down an odd sense of betrayal. All of the words he had rehearsed for weeks fled from his mind and he wished that Adam would stick around and talk for him. His brother always did have the words for every occasion. He was lost in thought as Stacey slid into the chair that Adam had vacated.

"You look well." It was good to see him without any bruising or marks on his face and even though he still moved a little stiffly, he was moving and not still stuck in bed. "Hop Sing's cooking agrees with you, I see."

She laughed at Joe's expression as he nodded. "He kept telling me you were too thin."

The small talk continued for a while as both of them danced around each other. Finally Joe decided enough was enough and he leaned across the table and wrapped his hand around Stacey's.

"Are you alright?" The blue scarf was gone and a couple of faint lines still scarred her neck, but unless somebody knew they were there, it would most likely not be noticed. Her fingers squeezed back and she smiled a watery smile. It took a while before she responded.

"I am now. I was afraid you were going to die on me. Twice!"

"I'm sorry … for involving you in this whole crazy mess."

"I'm not." It was a risk and she held her breath to see what he would do with her crumb of an offering.

Joe stared at the woman who had haunted his dreams for weeks. He lifted her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across the back of it. When she didn't pull back or object in any way, he smiled at her.

"I've missed you."

Hours later when Adam and Harry rode into the yard, expecting a warm supper, neither of them was surprised to find nothing had been prepared. Instead, Joe and Stacey were deep in conversation and barely noticed they had arrived. The two older brothers wrapped a hand around each others shoulders and decided their job was done.

Well, for now.

* * *

 _A/N: Well thank you for taking the time to read this far. I've enjoyed your comments, opinions and feedback along the journey. They always help me shape a story as I write. This story took on a mind of its own (as my stories often do!) and Nate got a whole lot more messed up than I first intended. For those of you who want a "what's next" for Joe and Stacey, I'd prefer to leave that to your imaginations. Some of you wanted a romance and some of you didn't. I don't write romance well, beyond the basics, so am not going to massacre that one! Let the story go wherever you want it to go from here._


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